UAE’s DarkMatter launches new secure smartphone

UAE cyber security firm DarkMatter has launched a new secure smartphone featuring its own operating system and secure communications applications.

KATIM, which means silence in Arabic, has been designed to fill a gap in the market for secure communications and is targeted at heads of state, government entities and security conscious large enterprises.

It features competitive specifications including an aluminium body, Qualcomm 821 processor, 5.2-inch full HD display, 64GB of storage and 4GB of RAM.

The KATIM is also water resistant, has a large 3,800mAh battery and includes 12MP and 5MP front and rear cameras, but the main investment comes in its security functionality.

Among the security features are a shield mode, designed to securely cut off recording functions, multiple levels of tamper prevention and a self destruct mode in case of prohibited access.

It also comes with a hardened version of Google’s 7.0 Android operating system and a secure app store, with downloads including a secure messaging app with customisable 256-bit encryption and self destructing messages.

Another app called Engage is designed to disseminate enterprise information and allow important business figures to interact, audit and manage a workflow. This will be deployed on a large scale with customers starting next month.

KATIM devices will also be activated and managed by a control centre, which will monitor for threatening activity.

“There is definitely a serious problem in space said CEO Faisal Al Bannai at the launch event in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress.”There is no better device to attack you on than your mobile phone.”

DarkMatter said the phone, which is manufactured in China, would launch in the fourth quarter of this year and initial customers have been confirmed.