What you need to know
- Samsung Message Guard is a new protection against phishing attacks.
- It works by neutralizing image files (containing malicious code) sent in text by cybercriminals.
- Supports Galaxy devices using the Samsung Messages and Messages by Google apps.
Samsung announced Message Guard. This is a new way to protect you from advanced threats that you may be unaware of. The South Korean tech giant has announced that it will bring this new feature to its latest phones to combat zero-click exploits, apparently the “newest kind of cyber attack”.
The attack process involves cybercriminals sending malicious code via text messages or images on third-party messaging app services. Such tactics have been seen in emails for some time, and new avenues have been found to exploit Android smartphone users.
According to Samsung, the attack is so sophisticated that once you receive the images, you can read messages, browse galleries, and copy sensitive information. I don’t even touch my phone.
“Zero-click exploits are just the latest threat in an era of increasing cybercrime targeting user data,” Samsung said in the announcement blog post. (opens in new tab)“One in three consumers worldwide has been the victim of a data breach in which their personal data has been hacked. It happens at a rate.”
The company also ensures that Samsung Galaxy phones are already secure with its existing Samsung Knox platform, protecting users from malicious video and audio files sent by attackers. However, the new Samsung Message Guard takes safety even further by protecting your device from suspicious image attachments and providing users with comprehensive protection.
Samsung compares Message Guard to Virtual Quarantine, isolating incoming images from the rest of the phone so it can be checked for potential threats and prevent the device from getting infected. All this happens silently in the background, so you don’t have to do anything.
Samsung Message Guard supports protection from malicious code received from PNG, JPG/JPEG, GIF, ICO, WEBP, BMP, and WBMP image formats.
Samsung says this level of protection will be available in Samsung Messages and Google Messages. The current Galaxy S23 series will be the first to benefit from this new level of protection. Meanwhile, other Galaxy smartphones and tablets (running One UI 5.1 or higher) will receive Message Guard protection through his OTA update later this year.
Samsung says it will roll out more software updates to the device later so that Message Guard can protect users from threats received via third-party messaging apps, which could include WhatsApp and Telegram.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra is the latest addition to the once-great Note series. It comes with a built-in S Pen, the latest Snapdragon chipset, and his large, curved OLED display for productivity and entertainment. For photographers, there are plenty of pixels available in a 200MP camera.
