Blockchain from Samsung for home devices - Knox Matrix. Knox benefits for everyone

Hello.

Samsung is consistently developing the Knox platform, which protects user data at the level

hardware plus checks vulnerabilities on hardwarelevel. In my opinion, the advantage of such a system is that it is constantly functioning, but the user does not notice its existence. You may not know anything about Knox, but the system is up and running. For advanced users, there is a secure Knox folder hidden in the device settings, where you can create a copy of your smartphone or tablet, which will have a different set of applications, other accounts. It turns out two devices in one, and in the Knox sandbox you can either store the most important applications, data that you want to hide from the whole world, or do exactly the opposite - install applications that are dangerous, those that should not access your contacts, applications and so on. There are a huge number of scenarios for using Knox, a useful thing, but next year it will become even more interesting, as Knox is integrated into all Samsung devices, including household appliances.

The beauty of Samsung is that the companyexperiments behind closed doors, and when he realizes that the implementation of a particular feature provides tangible benefits, he begins to promote it wherever possible. There is an effect of scale, in which the implementation is not as expensive as if it were one or two devices, or even their categories. Let's talk about the Knox Matrix, a new service that will provide protection for any device and your smart home.

Knox operation is possible only if there is a chip,which is responsible for the security of the device at the hardware level. It was logical that Knox first appeared on smartphones and tablets, where a potential hack can cause a lot of problems for a person, his data is of interest to attackers. Here the question of the cost of the device always arises, since the addition of any microcircuit is an additional cost that is not always justified. What is important is the scaling on the manufacturer's side. Samsung is giving out its plans in stages, for example, the company recently announced that all household devices will become smart, get Wi-Fi support.

In fact, we are talking about the fact that household appliancesgets access to the SmartThings service, you can control it from your phone, someone will do it from their TV - it's a matter of convenience and what device is at hand. In 2023, new models of equipment will acquire Wi-Fi, it seems logical to add other features familiar to smartphones, in particular, for household appliances to acquire the Knox system.

Why would a washing machine, vacuum cleaner orrefrigerator needs Knox? At first glance, it is not needed there at all, because we do not store user data in the same vacuum cleaner. Taking this opportunity, I want to note that we are already dropping the “smart” prefix, since in the near future the vast majority of household devices will acquire certain smart functions and will be able to communicate with each other. And the fact that Samsung is going in this direction is obvious, since the company produces premium devices, and additional features here are self-evident and expected by the buyer.

So, the vacuum cleaner knows something about us, for example,cleaning schedule, its mode. Is it dangerous for outsiders to access such data? I think no. But a vacuum cleaner equipped with a camera and a microphone already has completely different capabilities, doesn't it? The perfect spy that can move around the house without you paying any attention to him. Even if household appliances are not equipped with a microphone or camera, they can indirectly say a lot about their owner. Attackers' strategies are beginning to rely not on direct hacking of the same computer or smartphone, but on penetration into devices that are less protected, and this is the same household appliances.

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The economics of hacking is based on simple principles:An attacker needs to gain access to data as quickly as possible with minimal effort. Imagine a house in which you have installed an excellent alarm system, a powerful door with different bell systems, cameras at the entrance. But on the side of the first floor, a window is wide open, where anyone can climb in, and then calmly exit through the door. Such an absurd situation with a smart home, which today most companies have very weak protection. It is enough to hack the end device to find out your login and password used in such a system, and then go to unwind the entire chain. The same Samsung took care of this potential threat from the very beginning, took certain steps to make such a hack in real life impossible. And this is how her smart home compares favorably with Chinese manufacturers, who often transfer data between devices without any encryption, I don’t want to intercept. This disregard for security takes on a special piquancy in systems that are supposed to protect your home, for example, broadcast a picture from security cameras. It's absurd, but that's how the market works today. Why spend extra money on developing and maintaining security if there is no such requirement from the end buyer? Agree that the security of your data is the last thing you think about when you buy a TV, washing machine or vacuum cleaner. It seems silly to worry about it and consider potential threats. But given the lifetime of such devices, their vulnerabilities are with you, if not forever, then for a very long time. And it's good if the manufacturer takes care of fixing them.

Starting in 2023, Samsung will equip householdtechnology not only Wi-Fi, but also Knox. Here we can say that the resistance of devices to hacking will increase, that is, it will not be possible to intervene in household appliances at the hardware or software level in order to change something in them, to contact others through these devices. It seems that this is a threat that is far from us, but it is not at all, and therefore Samsung is tackling a problem that will become acute in the coming years.

By adding Knox to the technique, the company makes it possiblecreation of a distributed structure where each device can be considered trusted, a kind of blockchain. A network is formed from different devices that are in your home or in different places, the main thing is that they are tied to a single account. Each device checks the integrity of the software, non-interference with the hardware. But if something goes wrong, the device is considered compromised, and it is removed from the trusted list. The task is to minimize the consequences of an attack on a specific device, to prevent it from being used as a master key for the entire smart home. Hacking a single device is unpleasant, but not fatal - but taking control of different devices is much worse. This is what Knox Matrix should do, the system prevents hacking of the smart home, the network of your devices.

It is important to understand what is happening at the same time.two events. All equipment receives local Knox, this is the first step in the field of security. It is the local Knox that is responsible for controlling the device, no tampering or outside change that needs to be caught. And already at the next level, Knox Matrix works, which controls all devices, monitors their use.

An unobvious consequence of these changes isthat stealing consumer electronics is becoming as useless as stealing smartphones. You will be able to remotely block the equipment and find out where it is. Let's imagine this with an example: someone broke into the house and took away the TV or the vacuum cleaner. Theft is senseless, but the thieves do not yet know about it. Then they sell your equipment, they don't use Wi-Fi themselves, they don't turn on the TV (if they do, then they are even dumber than you might think).

The buyer does not know that the TV is stolen, hecustomizes it. But the presence of Wi-Fi and Knox allows you to find this TV, block it. Moreover, you can find the specific location where it is located. Not only on one Wi-Fi network, but on several, which the TV scans nearby. And in the end, finding the location of the TV is not difficult, as well as making any theft meaningless. Even if the TV was just turned on, it did not connect to Wi-Fi, it will remember all the networks, all the Bluetooth devices that were nearby. It will be easy to find it. And let's also remember that SmartThings allows you to search for any device when there are Samsung smartphones or other accessories nearby.

You see the story is so much more than it can bewas to imagine. This is not only the protection of your information, your devices, but also complete transparency for finding devices. Moreover, it also works in the opposite direction, the same household appliances can now help in finding lost or stolen Samsung devices.

On the example of Samsung Knox, we see the systemapproach, when a company is working to prevent future threats, there is clear work ahead of the curve. And the fact that all household appliances and smart devices will become so is certainly good. This is an additional protection of our data, our life. And the main advantage of the technology is that you simply do not pay attention to it, it will work imperceptibly.

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