Samsung has created a new repair mode for Galaxy smartphones that should prevent access to private customer data during repairs.
This new repair method was first announced by the Korean brand on its site, and spotted by SamMobile.
Guard against abuse
This privacy feature could potentially be very useful when someone needs to give physical access to their device to a third party. If your smartphone, which is also usually your main camera and storage device, needs repairs, it is necessary to ensure that the repairman will only perform the required repairs, and nothing more.
Unfortunately, technicians are already abusing this access. Last year, Apple faced a lawsuit over two iPhone repair technicians working at an authorized repairer who leaked sensitive photos and videos of a woman to Facebook, after acquiring the files while they were repairing his iPhone.
Samsung says Repair Mode will first be added to the Galaxy S21 series through a software update, before being rolled out to “certain other models in the future”.
The Knox Vault area
Repair mode allows a user to “selectively release data” when their smartphone is being repaired. It can be activated by going to Settings > Battery and device maintenance. The device then restarts, and limits access to applications installed by default, while access to personal data is blocked. Once the phone is returned to its owner, the latter can deactivate the repair mode and restart the device through biometric authentication or thanks to its access code.
It doesn’t explain, at a technical level, how data is protected by this mode, but Samsung points out that it has created the Samsung Knox Vault, an isolated area for sensitive data and protected by hardware security.
According to Samsung, Knox Vault offers “information protection technology that blocks various attacks by storing encrypted personal information in its own storage space.”
Source: ZDNet.com