The most secure Android phone ever? Introducing Kaymera’s Secured Pixel

Google’s flagship Pixel phone was one of the most hotly anticipated smartphone releases of 2016, and immediately achieved a raft of top reviews from leading publications.  It was developed to respond to increasing fragmentation in the Android ecosystem, which has led to long updates and patching cycles, and in turn creates multiple potential security vulnerabilities for cybercriminals to exploit.

The Pixel phone delivers a hardware platform optimised for Android, and incorporates robust security features like a fingerprint scanner. However, as with any off-the-shelf smartphone, public and private sector organisations wishing to use the device would still need to layer on security solutions to fully protect the device and the data it holds.  And once that third party software is introduced, there’s the real risk that it will affect usability, and users’ experience – possibly causing them to seek workarounds for the security.

Smartphone users quite understandably expect to be able to use all their device’s applications and features without restriction – yet many mobile security solutions restrict  access to app or phone features.  It’s a fine balance. As soon as the restriction is deemed too severe, or the performance of the phone is affected, users become frustrated and are increasingly likely to either use the device in an unsafe way that undermines the original security mechanisms (for example, by rooting the device), or stop using the device for work purposes at all, thereby affecting their productivity.

This is where Kaymera has stepped in, with the launch of the Kaymera Secured Pixel, a fully secured version of the Pixel phone.  It uses the original Google device’s purpose-built hardware and retains all of the Pixel’s features and ergonomics, including the fingerprint scanner.  The Kaymera Secured Pixel enables users to continue using all of their preferred Android applications, while ensuring that the phone, data stored on it and all communications (voice, data and messaging) are fully secured.

As with our other hardware-based solutions, we replace the original Android OS with our own fully-hardened version, and add our unique security architecture to the device.  Our four-layered approach addresses each of the main mobile threat vectors, including data stored on and transmitted to and from the device, its external interfaces, its OS functions and its applications.  When an organization deploys Kaymera devices they are all managed centrally via a single management dashboard, so that managers can examine the real-time risk status of each device.

Find out more about the Kaymera Secured Pixel here.