What’s new in ICS? – An overview of some Security features of Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)

Google’s latest Android version (4.0) “Ice Cream Sandwich” has started shipping on the brand new and astonishingly fast Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and will be available to other devices shortly. Back in May, Google promised to support upgrading all capable and compatible devices to the newest version of Android for up to 18 months after the Galaxy Nexus ships. Galaxy Nexus was released by Verizon on December 15th, with upgrades for a bevy of other phone models available shortly thereafter.
Ice Cream Sandwich is the most polarizing and feature-packed release since Froyo, and boasts a complete redesign of the familiar Android user interface. Some of the most exciting and groundbreaking improvements include:

Real-time voice input – Speak naturally into your phone and watch in amazement as text appears in any input field you can think of

Vastly improved multitasking – ICS offers a simple way to view all of the open apps on your phone and effortlessly close any apps that you are no longer using by simply swiping them off of the screen, leaving you with a more efficient and faster phone.

Single-motion panoramic photos – Thanks to ICS, users now may capture large panoramic photos by simply panning built-in camera from one side to the other.

Besides many user-friendly features, ICS also comes with built in capabilities that make phones safer and more secure – a treat for android security app providers. Following are some pivotal security components, ICS comes packaged with –

Total device encryption – For the first time ever on Android powered phones, Ice Cream Sandwich allows you to encrypt the entirety of your phone. Once you have encrypted your device it will be nearly impossible for anyone or anything to access your personal information without knowing your PIN or passcode. Setting up the encryption takes just a little less than an hour and is completely irreversible without performing a factory reset on the phone. Beware however; as there is no “lost password” option, if you ever forget your PIN or passcode, all of your data will be permanently lost.

Owner information displayed on the lock screen – One of the options available with Ice Cream Sandwich is the ability to display a personal message on your lock screen in the event that you lose your phone and someone else finds it. If you are lucky enough to lose your phone to a good person, this should increase the chances of recovering your lost device.

Option to disable preloaded apps – Although you cannot completely uninstall factory loaded apps from your device, Ice Cream Sandwich now provides the option of disabling them completely. Disabled apps cannot launch, access any information on your device, or even display an icon in the app tray. Disabling apps render them completely inoperable unless you decide to re-enable it. Additionally, another option is to disable background data only for specified apps. If background data is disabled on any given app, that app can only access the network when it is running in the foreground. While the most useful aspect of this feature is its ability to limit data-heavy apps from claiming all of your bandwidth, it can also be very helpful in protecting your private data. One such app is Google Maps which needs to access your location data every time you engage the app, but if you’d prefer that it doesn’t gather and transmit location data while you are not actively using it, you now have the ability of disabling it.

Facial recognition provides an entirely new level of security – It may be time to forget your typical swipe and PIN unlock codes. ICS comes complete with facial recognition capabilities that will enable you to unlock your phone simply by smiling into the front-facing camera! Amazing! Isn’t that? If for some reason, may be due to lighting or other conditions, the phone doesn’t recognize you, it will then ask for an unlock code. There has been speculation though that one might be able to unlock the device by pointing to a picture of the owner but Tim Bray, an Android developer, insists that you can’t unlock it with a photograph, so rest assured.

With Ice Cream Sandwich’s new security features we are expecting a major improvement to the protection of your Android powered device and a huge step for mobile security as a whole. These new features, coupled with the addition of Android antivirus protection, will leave you with a phone more secure than Fort Knox! As Android users (and fans), we are extremely excited for ICS to begin rolling out to the public and you should be too!