MOSCOW, October 21 (RIA Novosti) - Samsung Electronics said Tuesday that the US National Security Agency (NSA) has authorized a number of its smartphones and a tablet to be used by government officials to carry classified data.
"Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. today announced its solutions have been approved by the United States government as the first NIAP-validated consumer mobile devices to handle the full range of classified information," the company said in a press release.
The Samsung Galaxy S4, Galaxy S5, Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Note 10.1 are among the mobile devices included by the NSA in its Commercial Solutions for Classified Program Components List, available on the agency's website.
In February, Samsung announced the release of an updated version of the Knox mobile security platform, which allows both personal and classified data on the same mobile device.
Samsung argued that US officials would benefit from using its cost-effective devices, protected from unauthorized access, malicious software and phishing activities.
Citing market analysts, The Wall Street Journal said that it is unclear whether the approval of Samsung devices by the NSA could bring about new big deals for the company. The newspaper, though, noted that Knox is actively used only on 1.8 million devices out of the 87 million equipped with the platform.
Earlier this year, the US Defense Department included Samsung mobile devices in its Sensitive But Unclassified list of approved products.
