Can Samsung KNOX really protect my personal data?

Hello, guys! I'm a happy owner of Samsung Galaxy S4 and I've heard that my smartphone has enhanced protection for my data. The feature is called Samsung KNOX. I'm curious, will that really able to protect my data and the smartphone itself from mobile viruses and how does it work?

Hello John!

Congratulations with a new smartphone, S4 was released recently and I believe that was not so easy to get it so quickly. You are absolutely right, your mobile gadget has an enhanced data protection system, it is called Security Enhanced Android (SE Android). It aims to protect your device from any kind of threats a modern smartphone can face.

First of all we should mention that it keeps private and business data separately and both of those parts are encrypted with different encryption keys. If you like, you are able to turn on the whole file system encryption. As you know there are lots of mobile viruses for Android OS, and KNOX has something against them too. First of all it makes each app to run in a separate sandbox, so it won't be able to harm any vital systems. But still you have to pay attention to the apps permissions, because its the most widely spread way to get a virus.

But the bad news are that KNOX won't be able to protect you from tracking and eavesdropping with help of your smartphone. Also, separate sandboxes and encryption will slow down that gadget's performance. Another problem here is that though all the data on your smartphone is encrypted, it can be still stolen and decrypted, it will simply take some more time. So, we'd still recommend to use GSM signal blockers for better protection not only of your data, but your location as well.

Thanks for your question, I hope, I've managed to help!