It is not unusual that certain features of a phone only become public knowledge after the device’s launch. One example is the Pixel Visual Core chip in the Pixel 2 which we did not know about until after its launch. Now, Samsung has revealed that the Galaxy S20 series has a special security chip solution called Secure Element (SE).
The info became known when Samsung released a press statement yesterday. According to the statement, the security solution is a mix of hardware (the S3K250AF security chip) and optimized software and it is a Common Criteria Evaluation Assurance Level (CC EAL) 5+ certified hardware turnkey solution for mobile devices.
The security solution is referred to as a “tamper-resistant strongbox that stores users’ confidential data such as PINs, passwords, and cryptocurrency credentials” rather than storing it on the device’s embedded storage.
Samsung says the S3K250AF chip adds extra countermeasures to defend against possible attacks such as reverse engineering, power glitches, and laser attacks, thus making it really difficult for hackers to access or copy stored confidential data.
The press statement says the new Secure Element solution is in mass production and is present in the Galaxy S20 series. It is expected to show up in other Samsung phones and might even be adopted by other manufacturers too.
Samsung’s SE solution can be likened to Google’s Titan-M security chip present in the Pixel 3 and Pixel 4 phones. Late last year, Google announced a bug-bounty program of $1 million for anyone that can exploit the chip. We hope Samsung has something similar in the pipeline.
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