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An image showing Galaxy's mobile security system. / Photo courtesy of Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics is enhancing the security of Galaxy devices to preemptively block mobile financial fraud threats.

On June 16, Samsung Electronics announced that it will strengthen fishing app risk alerts starting with "One UI 9.0," which is scheduled to be installed on its new smartphone models in the second half of this year. The core of this update is to move beyond merely blocking the installation of phishing apps, providing a feature that halts the execution of an already installed app if it is confirmed to be malicious.

The company plans to introduce a feature that prompts users to delete an app through a warning alert if they attempt to open one that was installed within a few hours of a suspicious voice phishing call or via remote control. Through this, Samsung aims to raise the level of protection by preventing the execution of dangerous apps and inducing their deletion before users even realize they have been compromised, according to a Samsung Electronics official.

Prior to this, Samsung has consistently bolstered its security features to effectively intercept malicious apps, messages, and voice phishing. These enhancements include phishing app risk notifications, security policy updates, call screening, malicious message blocking, and suspicious voice phishing call alerts.

Specifically, the tech giant collaborated with the National Police Agency in 2024 to receive a database of fraudulent apps, developing a feature that blocks phishing apps at the installation stage. This feature has been applied to devices running One UI 6.1 or higher.

Samsung is also periodically rolling out "security policy updates" based on data provided by the National Police Agency and the Korea Internet and Security Agency (KISA).

In addition, the company has partnered with the Korea Communications Commission and KISA to develop and deploy a "malicious message blocking" feature on Galaxy smartphones. This function centers on preemptively blocking malicious spam messages based on sender numbers, risky links, and spam content provided by KISA. Since its initial introduction in September 2024, the feature has achieved a cumulative milestone of blocking approximately 400 million malicious messages as of April this year.

                                                                                                               Choi In-gyu