Samsung launches free’My Knox’ app for securing its latest smartphones

Samsung on Thursday announced price reductions and updates for its Knox security and management software for IT shops and a free My Knox service that is directly available to professionals using ActiveSync.

My Knox can be installed on a user’s Galaxy S5 or Galaxy Note 4 smartphone without an IT administrator’s involvement to set up a My Knox User Portal to remotely find, wipe and lock a device, according to a Samsung blog.

With My Knox, professionals can synchronize emails, calendar events and contacts between desktop computers and mobile devices, Samsung said. It creates a virtual Android partition within the mobile device that has its own home screen, launcher, apps and widget.

“If you are looking for a free security solution that ensures your privacy while providing the simplicity of having a secure workspace for email and apps that is managed by you, look no further than My Knox,” Samsung’s blog says.

Samsung also posted a separate blog that details its new Knox Premium and Knox Express services for IT admins to deploy cross-platform mobile security companywide.

Knox Premium for large enterprises will cost $1 per user, while Knox Express for small and medium businesses will be free. Cloud support for Knox tools had been priced as high as $3.60 per user, but Jae Shin, vice president of the Knox Business Group, recently said the price would soon go down.

“Knox Premium will be attractive to businesses because of its low cost and it will address concerns that Knox is expensive and not affordable,” said Shreyas Sadalgi, senior vice president of business development at Samsung Knox partner Centrify. He spoke in a recent interview.

Samsung described Knox Premium as a “complete mobility management solution” that includes Knox Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM), which is cloud based for easy deployment. It works across other device platforms besides Android, but Samsung didn’t say which ones. It also comes with online technical and phone ticket support.

Knox Express will also have Knox EMM, and will have an online portal for IT admins with support for Samsung and other Android and iOS devices, Samsung said.

Centrify provides the cloud-based identity and access management features of Knox EMM.a