Samsung Galaxy S20’s data security chip will be available to other brands

- February 26, 2020

Samsung has announced that it uses a new data security chip in its recently announced flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S20, Galaxy S20+, and the Galaxy S20 Ultra. The security solution is said to be best-in-class and passes the Common Criteria Evaluation Assurance Level (CC EAL) 5+.

The South Korean electronics giant's Secure Element (SE) turnkey solution uses a combination of security chip S3K250AF and optimized software to guard critical information on an isolated storage area. The Secure Element is claimed to be a tamper-resistant solution. It securely stores critical information such as crypto-currency data, fingerprints, face scans, login credentials, passwords, PINs, and more separate from typical mobile memory chips such as eUFS and eMMC.

The company's new data security solution combines hardware-level protection, microcontroller, and an optimized, secure operating system. While current smartphones are secure enough, Samsung says that dedicated data security chips add extra countermeasures for protection from hackers, malware, and viruses. The new security chip also offers protection from laser attacks, power glitches, and reverse engineering.

The new Secure Element solution also manages failed attempts and prevents replay attacks by accepting only the most recent authentication request as a valid one. This makes it extremely hard for anyone to access or copy confidential information from smartphones and other mobile devices. Apple (Secure Enclave) and Google (Titan M) also use similar hardware-based security solutions in their products.

Samsung Electronics says that the chip has been under mass production, and has already been used in the Galaxy S20 series. Other smartphone brands can also use Secure Element with S3K250AF chip in their products.

Samsung Secure Element S3K250AF Data Security Chip Size Comparison