Intel, BlackBerry and FireEye are battling over the security of the Samsung Galaxy S6 following its unveiling at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
The Galaxy S6 and S6 edge will come with Intel VirusScan Mobile already installed on the system, placing the chipmaker’s program alongside FireEye’s Mobile Threat Prevention, and BlackBerry’s WorkLife and SecuSUITE tools, which have been integrated into the Samsung KNOX security service.
John Giamatteo, SVP and GM at Intel Security, said: "We live in an unprecedented era of connectivity where users are doing just about everything on their mobile devices, from banking to shopping to filing taxes – potentially putting their sensitive data and privacy at risk."
The launches come as businesses grow more concerned over the state of their worker’s mobile devices, which are carrying increasing amounts of sensitive data exactly as companies face greater scrutiny over their security measures.
Whilst Intel and FireEye’s products focus strictly on the preventative side of security, BlackBerry’s software aims to protect employee privacy whilst securing the device, an acknowledgement of the thinning divide between personal and professional technology.
"Mobile devices in a BYOD (bring your own device) environment are the central point where business and personal information is located in one location and includes rich details such as contact, location and calendars to go along with email and files," said Manish Gupta senior vice president of products at FireEye.
"This creates a highly valuable target for bad actors and apps are a perfect delivery method as they open the device up to a wide variety of malicious activity."
Injong Rhee, EVP of enterprise business, IT and mobile communications at Samsung, added that workers "are tired of carrying two devices", but that companies were also "growing sensitive to the risks of having company assets tied to personal smartphones".
