Galaxy S10: How Secure Is Samsung’s New Android Flagship?

The Samsung Galaxy S10 is the 10th anniversary S-lineup flagship phone from the company that was made official on Feb. 20. It is fully loaded with exciting features, but is it a secure phone? Like the predecessor Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 phones, the Galaxy S10 promises robust security through security software.

During the recent Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2019 tech trade show, McAfee announced that the McAfee VirusScan will come bundled with the new Galaxy S10. According to the official press release, McAfee and Samsung have partnered to provide anti-malware service on their S10 series of smartphones. The first Samsung phone that featured a preinstalled McAfee anti-malware app was the Galaxy S8 in 2017.

After it was introduced in Galaxy S8, the anti-malware service was extended to other phones like S7, S7 Edge, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, and Galaxy Note 5. In older Samsung phones, you can also access the McAfee anti-malware protection by enabling it in the settings. The notification to switch it on will appear every now and then on the phone. With Samsung Galaxy S10, there is no need to manually switch it on. The McAfee VirusScan service will automatically run on the phone.

The Samsung Galaxy S10 will come preinstalled with both McAfee VirusScan and Secure WiFi, but it also depends on the carrier from where the phone has been purchased. The feature is available for Galaxy S10 phones from T-Mobile and US Cellular in the U.S. In Europe, the Secure WiFi feature is only offered in select markets. However, one thing that is confirmed is that every Galaxy S10 in the worldwide market will have VirusScan preinstalled.

Samsung is offering free 250 MB monthly data in the markets that have the Secure WiFi feature. Customers will have the option to purchase unlimited bandwidth at daily or monthly pricing, XDA Developers reported.

So how can Secure WiFi protect users? Secure WiFi is able to encrypt sensitive information and prevent them from being accessed by a stranger on a public wi-fi network that is unprotected.

McAfee decided to offer the said feature in their anti-malware app after finding out that identity and privacy are the major concerns for almost half of the participants of a survey. McAfee VirusScan offers a number of protections. For example, Google Play Protect will scan the app you download on Google Play to ensure that they do not contain any malware.