Samsung is launching an exclusive security feature against so-called “zero-click” attacks for the new Galaxy S23 series. S23 owners can use Samsung Message Guard to protect themselves from malware sent to them via photo messages.
The new Samsung Message Guard is now available – but only for the devices of the Galaxy S23 series. This is reported by the online magazine XDA Developers.
Samsung has developed its new security system called Samsung Message Guard to protect Galaxy users from so-called “zero-click” attacks that use maliciously manipulated image files. Attackers can integrate their malware into the images and only transmit the malicious code by sending or receiving the image. The user does not have to interact with the photo, which is also a risk if you do not click on images of unknown origin.
Only messages sent via Samsung Messages or Google Messages are protected with the new Samsung security solution.
According to Samsung, its new security system is able to detect these threats when they reach the device as a message. Then they will be stopped before they do any damage. “Zero-click” attacks are a big problem, so it would be desirable for Samsung to release the security solution to other users as soon as possible. However, the Samsung Message Guard has only limited success if it does not work with the currently most used messengers.
Zero-click exploits are sophisticated threats that exploit a security vulnerability without requiring user interaction.
Attacks based on zero-click exploits typically involve sending a message or file containing malicious code to the target to exploit a vulnerability on the device. This gives the attacker access without the victim even opening the message or file.
Samsung Message Guard is an isolated virtual area on the smartphone that serves as a temporary storage location for newly received PNG, JPG/JPEG, GIF, ICO, WEBP, BMP, and WBMP image files. The system scans the files to see if they contain malicious code. If so, they will be “locked in quarantine mode” and prevented from accessing or interacting with the underlying operating system.
“Samsung Message Guard automatically neutralizes all potential threats hiding in image files before they have a chance to harm you,” Samsung explains in the feature’s announcement. “It also runs silently and largely invisibly in the background and doesn’t need to be activated by the user.”
The new security system complements Samsung’s existing security solutions, most notably Samsung Knox, which detects threats in real-time and provides protection against malware. Samsung Message Guard will gradually roll out to other Galaxy devices running One UI 5.1 or later this year.
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