Galaxy Phones Add 'Malicious Message' Detection and Blocking Feature to Prevent Cybercrime

KISA and Business Agreement... Joint Development
Update Applied to Galaxy Phones
Expected to be Completed Within the Second Half of the Year

Samsung Electronics' 'Malicious Message Blocking Feature,' developed in collaboration with the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), will be applied to Galaxy smartphones through a message application (app) update starting from the 9th.

The malicious message blocking feature will be sequentially applied to domestic Galaxy smartphones running One UI 6.1 or higher via message app updates in the Galaxy Store, with full implementation expected by the second half of the year. Users can turn this feature on or off in the smartphone settings screen.

The malicious message blocking feature preemptively prevents malicious messages from being exposed to smartphone users. This feature helps prevent various cybercrimes caused by malicious spam messages such as illegal loans, adult content, and gambling.

Samsung Electronics and KISA signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in October last year to collaborate on developing the malicious message blocking feature. KISA analyzes an average of 1.5 million spam reports daily and provides related data such as sender numbers judged to be malicious and dangerous links, while Samsung Electronics applied filtering based on this data to develop the feature. Since March this year, a pilot program has been installed on some smartphone models to verify the feature and complete optimization.

Jung Won-gi, Head of KISA’s Digital User Protection Division, said, "We look forward to further strengthening the collaboration between Samsung Electronics and KISA to block malicious messages." Choi Ho-seok, Senior Vice President and Head of the Security Team at Samsung Electronics’ MX Division, said, "We will continue to make efforts so that users can use mobile products with peace of mind."