Samsung (Korean: 삼성, which translates to "3 stars" in English) is a South Korean conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul. It is the largest chaebol (business conglomerate) in South Korea. In January 2021, Samsung chairman Jay Y. Lee began serving a prison sentence for bribery and embezzlement.[1]
Its subsidiary Samsung Electronics manufactures mobile devices, with some models previously based on Palm and the Windows Phone mobile operating systems.[2] It has since primarily adopted Android, a competitor with Apple's iOS and iPadOS-based mobile product lines. Samsung also produced electronic components for use in Apple products.[3]
Work with Apple
Samsung owes Apple $539 million for Copying iPhone
Apple used Samsung as a manufacturer of screens and processors for its early iPhone models. After Apple accused Samsung of copying its technology in its Galaxy mobile devices, a legal battle was initiated between the two companies. Apple prevailed in the lawsuit, causing Samsung to pledge to create a "firewall" to prevent unauthorized transfer of technology from its manufacturing to its mobile divisions.[4] However, Apple took its mobile processor manufacturing business to TSMC.[5] In 2020, Apple began shifting orders for future iPhone screens from Samsung to LG.[3]
2022 hack
In 2022, about 190 GB of sensitive data was allegedly stolen from Samsung. A cyber extortion group known as Lapsus$ began leaking the data through torrents that included:
- Algorithms for biometric unlocking.
- Bootloader source code for all recent Samsung devices.
- Confidential source code from Qualcomm.
- Source code for Samsung's activation servers and authentication of Samsung accounts.
- Source code for trusted software used by Samsung for cryptography, encryption, and access control.[6]
Samsung acknowledged the security breach of company data, including source code related to the operation of its Galaxy devices, but stated that it did not anticipate any impact on its business or customers.[7]
References
- ↑ Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong sentenced to 30 months in prison in bribery case by Reuters, South China Morning Post. 2021-01-18.
- ↑ Samsung’s Smartphone History: From Zero to Galaxy S4 by Sascha Segan, PC Magazine. 2013-03-12.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 LG gets orders for 20M OLED iPhone screens this year, ending Samsung monopoly by Ben Lovejoy, 9to5Mac. 2020-05-27.
- ↑ In wake of Apple ruling, Samsung's internal 'firewall' between divisions protects key partnership, by Chris Welch, The Verge. 2012-08-27.
- ↑ Apple shift to TMSC for iPhone may force Samsung to split chip design, fabrication businesses, by Mike Wuerthele, Apple Insider. 2016-12-13.
- ↑ Hackers leak 190GB of alleged Samsung data, source code by Ionut Ilascu, BleepingComputer. 2022-03-02.
- ↑ Hackers Breach Samsung Company Data, Galaxy Smartphone Source Code, Nasdaq. 2022-03-08.
External links
- Samsung official site
- Samsung and Samsung Electronics at Wikipedia
