Samsung announced yesterday the launch of new security chips for mobile phones with the idea of increasing people's trust in the products it sells, which must offer a very high level of protection for the data stored in them.
“Bucharest, Romania – May 26, 2020 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, today introduced a complete and standalone security solution consisting of a (S3FV9RR) Secure Element (SE) chip and an enhanced security software that provides protection for services such as boot, isolated storage, mobile payment and other applications. The latest security chip has been certified by Common Criteria Evaluation Assurance (CC EAL) 6+, the highest level achieved by a mobile component.
"In this era of speed and interactions without direct physical contact, we expect our connected devices, such as smartphones or tablets, to be highly secure so that they protect personal data and enable fintech activities such as transactions mobile banking, stock trading and cryptocurrency transactions. With the new standalone Security Element (S3FV9RR), Samsung is putting an extremely strong lock on smart devices to protect confidential information,” said Dongho Shin, senior vice president of System LSI marketing at Samsung Electronics.
Samsung's new security solution is an improved and comprehensive security service that builds on the first generation solution (S3K250AF) announced in February. The new security solution is a highly advanced premium component that offers higher levels of protection than CC EAL 5+, with CC EAL 6+ certified hardware secure element, S3FV9RR and powerful security software. CC EAL 6+ is used to run applications that meet the most stringent security requirements on the market, such as premium smartphones, e-passports and cryptocurrency hardware wallets.
With double the secure storage capacity, the new security solution also enables hardware-based root of trust (RoT), secure boot and device authentication that pushes mobile security to the next level. Especially for service providers, manufacturers and organizations, optimal device authentication is enhanced through RoT when running proprietary applications on a mobile device. With the initiation of the bootloader, a chain of trust is activated whereby each firmware with approved keys is sequentially validated. This secure boot process is managed by RoT, protecting your device against possible malicious attacks or unauthorized software updates.
The new stand-alone security solution can work independently of the security performance of the device's main processor. This makes the solution extremely versatile, extending the security capabilities of mobile devices, IoT applications and other devices to all performance levels. In addition, manufacturers can ensure that devices produced in other locations only have authorized firmware. The solution also meets the requirements of the hardware security module for cryptographic operations presented by a future version of the mobile operating system.
Samsung's new security solution, S3FV9RR, will be available in the third quarter of this year."
