Google has made it official that its newly launched Google Pixel 2 Smartphone is immune to Cyber Attacks. The internet juggernaut announced that its new device is enriched with tamper-resistant hardware security to deliver enterprise-grade security which is in addition to its Nougat OS file-based encryption feature.
The Alphabet’s subsidiary announced that Pixel 2 and the Pixel 2 XL’s hardware security module is first of its kind on Android devices as it reinforces the lock screen against malware attacks. So, users can safeguard their data against all variants of mobile malware by protecting their contacts, emails, photos and app data with the new security module.
Technically, lock screen acts as the first line of defense when it comes to protection of user’s data from hackers. However, security experts say that Lock-screen also acts as a vulnerable point for brute force attacks. But Google argues that its hardware security module makes its Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL’s phones immune to such lock-screen attacks.
Google has also mentioned in its media briefing that all those devices that ship with Android 7.0+ OS will have a user’s lock screen passcode for the secure environment- a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE). So, any hacker who tries to encrypt a smartphone can only be able to do so, unless, he/she knows the user’s passcode and that’s almost impossible in environments where security critical operations are carried out by tamper-resistant hardware.
Now to those who would like to know more about tamper-resistant hardware, here’s a briefing- A tamper-resistant hardware security module is actually a hardware chip which is separate from the motherboard and runs on its own flash, RAM, Processing unit and other resources inside a single package. This arrangement helps the chip in controlling its own execution and has the ability to rebuff external tamper attempts.
Note- All Qualcomm Snapdragons processors of the present generation are equipped with such security modules on a default note.
Google concluded in its statement that the security module is architected in such a manner that no individual or bot including itself can update the passcode verification unless they have the knowledge of user’s passcode.
That sounds good……isn’t it?
