The U.S. government has awarded Federal Information Processing Standard security certification to Samsung’s Galaxy S II smartphone as well as the Wi-Fi and 4G LTE versions of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet, the Korea-based gadget maker said during this week’s 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
The FIPS certification from the National Institute of Standards and Technology gives Samsung a temporary market-niche edge to exploit in its rivalry with Apple and other mobile device makers. Under the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002, non-military federal agencies, U.S. government contractors and regulated American industries in the financial and health-care sectors are required to use FIPS-certified computing devices.
Samsung said it proactively sought FIPS certification to show the mobile-device maker’s current and potential government and business customers that the company takes their security and interoperability needs seriously.
“This certification is a testament to the high level of enterprise business-readiness of our premium smartphones and tablets,” said Cho BumCoo, senior vice president of the Enterprise Solution Team at Samsung Electronics.
Protecting Sensitive Data
The entire FIPS standard includes modified versions of several global specifications already developed by the American National Standards Institute, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the International Organization for Standardization. However, the FIPS 140-2 certification awarded to Samsung this week specifically pertains to the cryptographic-based security systems used to protect the confidentiality and integrity of sensitive or valuable data.
FIPS 140-2 covers the secure design and implementation of an entire cryptographic module — from encryption and authentication to digital signatures and key management. What’s more, the standard specifies four ascending security levels that collectively cover the range of potential applications and environments in which cryptographic modules may be employed.
For example, Level One merely calls for the use of an approved security algorithm or function….
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