SECURE CAMERA ALLOWS SECURE PHOTOGRAPHY ON SMARTPHONES

Munich, 16 March 2017 – Users can now take photographs securely on their smartphones thanks to the new Secure Camera function on Virtual Solution’s security app, SecurePIM. Secure Camera accesses the hardware directly and stores the photos in SecurePIM’s secure container ab. The photos can then be sent securely from SecurePIM via its email function, or they can be saved.

Companies and public authorities are often unable to use the practical camera function on smartphones due to security concerns. This is because the photographed contents (such as photos of flipcharts, evidence, scanned documents, etc.) are often barely protected by normal smartphone software. That is why in critical areas, the use of smartphone cameras is explicitly prohibited.

Virtual Solution has expanded the functionalities on its smartphone SecurePIM app: it now includes the Secure Camera feature which places all photos in a secure and separate area on the phone – a so-called secure container – which remains completely segregated from the other apps. The Secure Camera accesses the smartphone’s hardware directly but doesn’t use the preinstalled camera app nor does it save the photos in the smartphone’s own photo album.

The photos can be sent securely via SecurePIM’s email function. The messages are encrypted in the sender’s secure container and are fully protected until they are delivered to the recipient’s SecurePIM container.

The Secure Camera has one special differentiating feature compared to other security solutions which operate so-called “hardened” smartphone operating systems or EMM (Enterprise Mobility Management) solutions: Those solutions allow access to images and they can be transmitted to cloud services.

Virtual Solution’s SecurePIM is the first app produced by a German provider for secure, encrypted email communications in which no confidential data is placed on third-party servers. The Secure Camera was developed especially for SecurePIM and it is now an integral part of the SecurePIM App Suite. SecurePIM can be installed in a few seconds only, including its certificate.

“Recording the contents of flipcharts at the latest meeting, collecting proof of progress on construction sites, storing evidence of damage by experts… Doing all these things on a smartphone today is a totally normal business process,” explains Günter Junk, CEO of Virtual Solution AG in Munich. “With the integrated Secure Camera in SecurePIM, the company keeps control over the images and the camera is part of the secure container.”