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<\/a><\/p>\nA device with KNOX activated can be flipped between personal and business (KNOX) personalities. It is like having two smartphones in one. Whether this is a desirable approach is up for debate, but it does secure business apps and data.<\/p>\n
We did not hear much about KNOX after last year\u2019s MWC. It was released a few months later, but snags included limited device support (only the latest Samsung devices), the need to prepare apps with a special KNOX wrapper before they could be used, and the need to hire a Samsung partner like Centrify<\/a> to provide administration tools. <\/p>\n All that has changed following last night\u2019s announcement<\/a> of the next generation of KNOX. Highlights:<\/p>\n Most apps can now be installed in KNOX without any special wrapper<\/p>\n You can use a third-party container such as Good, Fixmo Safezone, or MobileIron AppConnect in place of the KNOX container, but still using KNOX hardware protection.<\/p>\n Two factor authentication (for example requiring a fingerprint swipe as well as a password to access a KNOX container)<\/p>\n KNOX supports Microsoft\u2019s workplace join<\/a> (a kind of lightweight domain join) for secure access to Microsoft network resources.<\/p>\n Samsung has introduced a cloud-based Mobile Device Management (MDM) tool called KNOX EMM (Enterprise Mobility Management). This runs on Microsoft\u2019s Azure platform and integrates with Azure Active Directory (which can itself link to on-premise Active Directory) so that small businesses on Office 365, or large businesses which prefer a cloud tool, can manage both Knox and other devices. EMM is primarily aimed at SMEs but apparently can scale up without limit.<\/p>\n EMM will also support non-Samsung devices.<\/p>\n EMM includes an app marketplace allowing businesses to purchase and deploy apps. The example we were shown was the Box cloud storage service.<\/p>\n Availability is promised for the second quarter of 2014.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Samsung introduced KNOX at the 2013 Mobile World Congress (MWC). It is a secure app and data container for Samsung mobiles, backed by hardware, enabling businesses to run apps that are isolated from a user\u2019s personal apps (which might include badly behaved or even malicious apps). Data is encrypted so that business secrets are safe … Continue reading Samsung evolving KNOX into complete mobile device management solution<\/span> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n