In Conversation

"A special protection that is anchored in the system as deeply as possible."

Mr. Bulthuis, when was the first time you heard the name "Android"?

In 2008. Back then when the first Android cell phone hit the market, many people wondered what this had to do with the search engine service and the core business of Google. The rapid triumph of smartphones surprised most observers.

And when did you realize that Android was also relevant for a security company like G&D?

As soon as it became clear that many applications are used on a smartphone. If there is one lesson that can be learned after 25 years in PC and IT security, it is the following: Wherever there are applications such as online banking, which manage financial transactions, or ones that simply involve valuable information, then you can be sure that cyber criminals are not far behind in developing their own business models.

Is there any way we can really recommend using smartphones for payment and banking applications?

Of course. All you need is special protection that must be anchored in the system as deeply as possible.

And virus scanners for smartphones are not enough for this?

Security apps do not provide enough security because they are constantly dealing with new Trojans. If a virus does take over the smartphone, the damage is huge. There is no such thing as a firewall. This is why the devices must be built in a way that ensures critical parts of applications are processed in a secure environment.

So your approach could be described as "Preventing security holes" and not "Closing security holes"?

Exactly. Security at app level can only close security holes. We provide security at a much deeper level – in the hardware itself. By embedding security elements that only require a few interfaces, i.e. they have few interfaces with other components, we create artificial bottlenecks. Instead of constantly trying to control all connections, we build an insurmountable wall just around the secure element and only open up some connections that can be easily controlled.