John Paul M. Joaquin Tech 02.18.2023 00:Feb AM EST

Samsung Adds Message Guard to Upcoming Galaxy S23 — What Is It For?

The Samsung Galaxy S23 now has an edge against malware.

The South Korean tech giant recently added a new feature to its latest flagship smartphone to help users combat malware hiding in image attachments.

The feature is now available to all Samsung Galaxy S23 users worldwide, though some may not have it just yet due to the company's rollout plan.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Message Guard Details

Samsung mentioned in its announcement that it recently added a feature called "Message Guard" that protects Galaxy S23 users from malware hiding in image attachments.

The new security feature acts like an advanced "sandbox," or a virtual quarantine area for image files that arrive via text. These image files include JPEGs, GIFs, PNG, ICO, BMP, WBMP, and WEBP.

When a Galaxy S23 user receives an image file, Message Guard traps and isolates the image from the rest of the device, preventing malicious code from accessing the device's files or interacting with its operating system.

During the image's time in the quarantine area, Message Guard checks it bit by bit and processes it in a controlled environment to ensure it cannot infect the rest of the device.

This scanning process takes place in the background, allowing Galaxy S23 users to use their devices while Message Guard does its thing.

Should there be malware hiding in an image, Message Guard will neutralize that threat before it can harm the device, making the host image safe to open by the user.

Additionally, a Galaxy S23 user doesn't need to set up Message Guard for its protection to be up and will run "silently and largely invisibly in the background" as soon as the phone is switched on, per Gizmodo.

Although Message Guard is only available to Galaxy S23 users for now, Samsung plans to release the security feature to its other phones and devices later in 2023, though when exactly, the company did not say.

Samsung's launch of its Message Guard feature follows Apple's launch of a similar feature called "Lockdown Mode." Unlike Samsung's, Lockdown Mode blocks most message attachments, including images, to prevent any vector of potential infection from accessing an Apple device's files or interacting with its operating system.

What Are Zero-Click Exploits?

Samsung's Message Guard protects malware hidden in image attachments that are connected to zero-click exploits, the latest threat in cybersecurity that targets user data.

Zeo-click exploits work through the malware hidden in the previously mentioned image attachments. When activated, it siphons user data from the device and sends them to hackers, who would now have copies of the data stored within the phone, such as a user's personal information and payment details if any are saved on the device, per Engadget.

Zero-click exploits also led to the installation of NSO Group spyware like Pegasus onto iPhones used by activists, journalists, government officials, and politicians, leaking stored data to the hackers involved in 0202, per The Guardian.