Researchers report security flaw in Samsung's Galaxy S4

<div class="cnet-image-div image-REGULAR float-none" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; float: none; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin: 10px auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 610px;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="" class="cnet-image" height="435" src="http://asset1.cbsistatic.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim2/2013/12/02/35627724-Samsung-Galaxy-S4-31_610x435.jpg" style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="610" /></span></div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's some Grinchy news for those of you who put Samsung's Galaxy S4 on your holiday wish list: Israeli researchers have identified a vulnerability in the smartphone that allegedly allows a hacker to easily intercept secure data.</span></div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">CNET did not immediately hear back from Samsung with a response to the reported flaw, but the company has <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702304244904579276191788427198-lMyQjAxMTAzMDIwNDEyNDQyWj" style="border: 0px; color: #2964bf; cursor: pointer; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">told The Wall Street Journal</a> and other news outlets that it's looking into the issues and thus far doesn't believe the problem is as serious as the researchers present in their findings.</span></div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The report comes not only as many <a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/samsung-galaxy-s4/" section="luke_topic" style="border: 0px; color: #2964bf; cursor: pointer; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Galaxy S4</a> phones sit wrapped up under Christmas trees, but also as Samsung pitches its new Knox security platform, used in the device, to federal agencies like the Department of Defense.</span></div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The alleged vulnerability was discovered earlier this month by researchers at Ben-Gurion University's Cyber Security Labs. Specifically, they say while the Knox is the most advanced security-driven infrastructure for mobile phones, the alleged flaw enables malicious software to track e-mails and record data communications. The flaw was uncovered by Ph.D. student Mordechai Guri during an unrelated research task.The Knox software offers high-level encryption, a VPN feature, and a way to separate personal data from work data. It also enables IT administrators to manage a mobile device through specific policies, and Samsung hopes it will appeal to security-sensitive clients as a replacement for BlackBerry devices. Knox-enabled devices have already beenapproved by the Pentagon for government use.</span></div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Knox has been widely adopted by many organizations and government agencies and this weakness has to be addressed immediately before it falls into the wrong hands," he said. "We are also contacting Samsung in order to provide them with the full technical details of the breach so it can be fixed immediately</span></div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Via: <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57616275-94/researchers-report-security-flaw-in-samsungs-galaxy-s4/">CNET</a></span></i></div>

Researchers report security flaw in Samsung's Galaxy S4

Here's some Grinchy news for those of you who put Samsung's Galaxy S4 on your holiday wish list: Israeli researchers have identif...

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Samsung Galaxy S4 Smartphones low level security

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHRryso6k-dQa6spdrKPa2-hd9UrFnks0N0mivGPwBcnG6xEPMg-eZa6UtGtv_95tv4t9L5eYKcfPwLOSooQH38v9H2RrWIFD1l-XrbBmbv2kZ_IhfUoCQfManLj6AQ84nzWPv4sC7ZiE/s320/Samsung_s4_hack.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Samsung Galaxy S4 Smartphones</i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHRryso6k-dQa6spdrKPa2-hd9UrFnks0N0mivGPwBcnG6xEPMg-eZa6UtGtv_95tv4t9L5eYKcfPwLOSooQH38v9H2RrWIFD1l-XrbBmbv2kZ_IhfUoCQfManLj6AQ84nzWPv4sC7ZiE/s1600/Samsung_s4_hack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></a></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S4 phone are vulnerable to hackers, despite the much-vaunted enterprise software called Knox in them, according to Israeli Ben-Gurion University security researchers. Hackers can get at your email, personal data, and other information you would like to keep private, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Supposedly, the Knox enterprise security software is as secure as Blackberry software. Up until this revelation by the Ben-Gurion University researchers, at least, the U.S. government was contemplating using the Samsung Galaxy phones.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Samsung, while not denying that there’s a potential for their Knox security software to be hacked, are downplaying that possibility. Samsung said to the Wall Street Journal that businesses and others who might use their phones would have other sorts of software at their disposal to prevent any such hacks from occurring. Still, the company is investigating into the issues raised by the researchers.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">With the demise of Blackberry, other smartphone companies like Samsung and Apple are trying to fill the market niche for secure and reliable smartphones and other devices. The Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphones were the Korean company’s latest attempt at filling this niche. A few months ago, the Pentagon okayed the use by the Department of Defense of Apple’s iPads and iPhones. Currently, Samsung smartphones and other devices also have this approval.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How does the Knox enterprise security software for the Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphones work?</span></strong></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Samsung’s Knox security software creates what they call a “container.” The container is supposed to by impervious to security violations, like the attempts of hackers to break into it. Samsung’s container runs a different, unique execution environment for data and apps. This is supposed to prevent any apps that are ran outside of the container from accessing the data within it.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">However, the Israeli researchers have figured out a way for hackers to get to the data within the container, which is a blow to the idea that having a container that runs a separate execution environment somehow means your data is secure. The “vulnerability” the researchers have discovered can enable hackers to steal saved data, track emails, and listen into phone calls.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Researcher Mordechai Guri, who works at Ben-Gurion University’s Cyber security Lab, was the person to originally discover this security hole. Guri figured out that if hackers used malicious apps they disguised as games or other programs, and are downloaded to the non-secure part of the Galaxy S4 smartphones, the “malware could be activated to record all data communication taking place inside the container.”</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In a statement from Samsung, they have said that users of their Galaxy S4 smartphones shouldn’t worry about the possibilities that the Israeli researchers discovered that their smartphones and Knox software are vulnerable to attacks by hackers. Their statement reads that “the core Knox architecture cannot be compromised or infiltrated by such malware.”</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'palatino linotype', palatino, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <br /></div>

Samsung Galaxy S4 Smartphones low level security

Samsung Galaxy S4 Smartphones Smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S4 phone are vulnerable to hackers, despite the much-vaunted enterp...

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Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Play edition scores Android 4.4

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZnLgfYhSk-OdsWQgh3wcM9PS0DX6rI2w1G99fZu_sNZ29WjQRWDySY-FFXhn4rNGjpqoEulBFb_4G4q4lCyHfwszUx1T_n0F-hZ2RjyMeX9R4BO8XIZKrXl7KFXa8Z2JtORO1bG2W_Fsm/s1600/googleplayeditionlead02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZnLgfYhSk-OdsWQgh3wcM9PS0DX6rI2w1G99fZu_sNZ29WjQRWDySY-FFXhn4rNGjpqoEulBFb_4G4q4lCyHfwszUx1T_n0F-hZ2RjyMeX9R4BO8XIZKrXl7KFXa8Z2JtORO1bG2W_Fsm/s640/googleplayeditionlead02.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>If you own a Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Play edition, you can now put down your pitchfork and stop dripping with envy. Apparently, Android KitKat is also gracing not only the Sense-less version of <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/25/htc-one-android-4-4-kitkat/">HTC's One</a> today, but also the non-TouchWiz device. When the phone getting Android 4.4 in its purest form, you can look forward to all the features the updated platform promises, including a better camera app and longer battery life. The update should soon be available for download via Settings -- if it's yet to arrive, that is -- those who own a version of the <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/24/samsung-galaxy-s-4-review/">Galaxy S4</a> with all of Samsung's software tweaks will have to sit tight a while longer<br /><br /><br /><i>S<span class="source"><strong>ource:</strong> <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/+android/posts/L1kmDwTi2rG" target="_blank">Android (Google+)</a></span></i><br /><span class="source"><i>Via : <a href="http://engadget.com/">Engadget  </a></i></span>

Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Play edition scores Android 4.4

If you own a Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Play edition, you can now put down your pitchfork and stop dripping with envy. Apparently, Android Kit...

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Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Play edition scores Android 4.4 KitKat update

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3i8aIZ7VBC1HFR2OhXhhmKA1Z2IkuCPu1q8T-IG46PlMoQEUubKOuDSKEfXnDmuulULT8RpYeVd8hjMcxYgqAOTss6oc9v-NjqKwlPrppbYKvdFzLnfCHtIaXKP3PF3LwsMYhX4RlXCs/s1600/googleplayeditionlead02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3i8aIZ7VBC1HFR2OhXhhmKA1Z2IkuCPu1q8T-IG46PlMoQEUubKOuDSKEfXnDmuulULT8RpYeVd8hjMcxYgqAOTss6oc9v-NjqKwlPrppbYKvdFzLnfCHtIaXKP3PF3LwsMYhX4RlXCs/s640/googleplayeditionlead02.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 24px;">If you own a </span><a href="http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/06/samsung-galaxy-s-4-google-play-edition-review/" style="background-color: white; color: #3399cc; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none;">Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Play edition</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 24px;">, you can now put down your pitchfork and stop dripping with envy. Apparently, </span><a href="http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/31/android-kitkat-nexus-5-google-now-search/" style="background-color: white; color: #3399cc; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none;">Android KitKat</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 24px;"> is also gracing not only the Sense-less version of </span><a href="http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/25/htc-one-android-4-4-kitkat/" style="background-color: white; color: #3399cc; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none;">HTC's One</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 24px;"> today, but also the non-TouchWiz device. When the phone getting Android 4.4 in its purest form, you can look forward to all the features the updated platform promises, including a better camera app and longer battery life. The update should soon be available for download via Settings -- if it's yet to arrive, that is -- those who own a version of the </span>Galaxy S4<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 24px;"> with all of Samsung's software tweaks will have to sit tight a while longer.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 24px;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Via: <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/26/samsung-galaxy-s4-google-play-edition-android-kitkat/">Engadget</a></span></i></span>

Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Play edition scores Android 4.4 KitKat update

If you own a  Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Play edition , you can now put down your pitchfork and stop dripping with envy. Apparently,  Android ...

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The Galaxy S4 outperforms HTC One… even when it can’t cheat

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiIgSTZ_FFcgYszwT52NuaQNzXfmMIApXQLnfTQmkuYlSEBx87ate7NEhf3fHaO44tBaHN6bR6wYvuM5YjZc7I3qheeSn-IPmiqiLbTS6tb-uzoT5TaZSIUirt5M7kJ7ANbL8PzvkcFhY/s1600/bgr-htc-one-galaxy-s4-51.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiIgSTZ_FFcgYszwT52NuaQNzXfmMIApXQLnfTQmkuYlSEBx87ate7NEhf3fHaO44tBaHN6bR6wYvuM5YjZc7I3qheeSn-IPmiqiLbTS6tb-uzoT5TaZSIUirt5M7kJ7ANbL8PzvkcFhY/s320/bgr-htc-one-galaxy-s4-51.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1385132844762_1324" style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Benchmark optimization has become a fairly regular occurrence, especially in the case of <a data-rapid_p="9" href="http://bgr.com/tag/android" style="color: #324fe1; text-decoration: none;">Android</a> smartphones. Just last month, Samsung was accused of artificially juicing the Galaxy Note 3, and despite prompt denials from the smartphone vendor, the evidence is overwhelming that Samsung and its competitors regularly cheat on benchmark tests. Solutions have been proposed and according to <em>Engadget</em>, GameBench believes it has the best method yet. <span id="more-1876325"></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">GameBench, a startup with a focus on the Android gaming market, has developed a test that it claims is “uncheatable.” The GameBench app runs in the background while you are playing a game, measuring the frame rate and the battery drain. GameBench used the <a data-rapid_p="12" href="http://bgr.com/tag/galaxy-s4" style="color: #324fe1; text-decoration: none;">Galaxy S4</a> and the <a data-rapid_p="13" href="http://bgr.com/tag/htc-one" style="color: #324fe1; text-decoration: none;">HTC One</a> for a sample reading, and although the S4 suffered from a higher rate of battery drain, its median FPS remained higher in every tested game. Even without rigging the benchmarks, Samsung still wins. The charts from GameBench can be seen below.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Via: <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/galaxy-s4-outperforms-htc-one-even-t-cheat-180003752.html">Yahoo News</a></span></i></div>

The Galaxy S4 outperforms HTC One… even when it can’t cheat

Benchmark optimization has become a fairly regular occurrence, especially in the case of  Android  smartphones. Just last month, Samsung was...

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