There were already plenty of reasons to look forward to the next iPhone update, due in early March. But now, Apple has announced something completely unexpected, which will make a huge difference. Prepare for quantum computing protection for iMessage. Seriously.
February 25 update below. This article was first published on February 22, 2024.
In a support note published on February 21, Apple said: “Today, we are announcing the most significant cryptographic security upgrade in iMessage history with the introduction of PQ3, a post cryptographic protocol. -revolutionary quantum that advances the state of the art of end-to-end cryptography. -end secure messaging.
If you thought Apple already had encryption in iMessage, you’d be right. But this takes things to another level. Apple says it will have “the strongest security properties of any large-scale messaging protocol in the world.”
Other services are also taking security seriously, with Signal announcing a “post-quantum crypto security enhancement.” Apple welcomed this and said it provides Level 2 security. Current iMessage security, until iOS 17.4 arrives, handles Level 1, according to Apple, as does WhatsApp, says- your. When iOS 17.4 is released, PQ3, according to Apple, will reach, you guessed it, Level 3 security.
It will also come to other Apple platforms with iMessage, namely the iPad, Mac and Apple Watch.
If you’re wondering where quantum computing comes in, it’s here. It is believed that in the future, quantum computers will be able to overcome the levels of encryption available today. This means that if hackers, for example, can now get their hands on images, they will be able to understand what they said when quantum computers do it.
Email security levels as defined by Apple.
Apple
Apple says: “A sufficiently powerful quantum computer could solve these classical mathematical problems in fundamentally different ways and, therefore, in theory, do so quickly enough to threaten the security of end-to-end encrypted communications. Although quantum computers with this capability do not yet exist, attackers with extremely large resources can already prepare for their eventual arrival by taking advantage of the sharp decline in modern data storage costs. The principle is simple: these attackers can collect large amounts of current encrypted data and archive it for future reference. Even if they can’t decrypt any of this data today, they can hold on to it until they acquire a quantum computer capable of decrypting it in the future, an attack scenario known as Harvest now, decipher later.”
No one wants their messages to be seen by others, whether they’re harmless nonsense like “I’m on the bus, I’ll be home in 8 p.m.,” detailed business-critical messages, or strategic plans sent to the field in a war zone.
Privacy is at the heart of Apple, with the company describing it as a basic human right. This type of security improvement is to be welcomed and offers real peace of mind.
For an in-depth look at security details, check out fellow Forbes contributor Zak Doffman’s post here.
Updated February 23. If you want quantum security on your iPhone, and even the sound is pretty cool, to be honest it’s simple to set up. If you have the public or developer betas on your phone, it will automatically be upgraded to PQ3 protection. If you don’t do this, this will happen during the update in early March, when the general release of iOS 17.4 becomes available.
This won’t be an instant change, with Apple saying this: “Support for PQ3 will begin rolling out with the public releases of iOS 17.4, iPadOS 17.4, macOS 14.4, and watchOS 10.4, and is already in the corresponding developer. preliminary and beta versions. iMessage conversations between devices supporting PQ3 automatically switch to the post-quantum encryption protocol. As we gain operational experience with PQ3 on iMessage’s massive global scale, it will fully replace the existing protocol in all supported conversations this year.
As Apple says, there are a lot of iMessage users, so replacing the protocol before the end of 2024 is quite a challenge.
Note that for the PQ3 encryption protocol to be active, devices on either end of the messages must be running iOS 17.4 (which is yet another way Apple is helping us believe that blue bubbles are better than green ones – phones Android, by definition, will not PQ3). And since not all iPhones can run iOS 17.4, the protocol won’t apply to them.
Updated February 25. If you’re still not convinced that the PQ3 update is a good thing, Matt Burgess at Wired has a great explanation of what that means and what’s coming.
“Quantum computing is serious business. The governments of the United States, China and Russia, as well as technology companies such as Google, Amazon and IBM, are investing billions in the (still) relatively nascent effort to create quantum computers. If successful, these technologies could help achieve scientific breakthroughs in everything from drug design to creating more durable batteries. Politicians are also vying to become quantum superpowers. Current quantum computing devices are still experimental and impractical for general use.
“Unlike the computers we use today, quantum computers use qubits, which can exist in multiple states. (Current bits are either ones or zeros). This means quantum devices can store more information than traditional computers and perform more complex calculations, potentially including hacked encryption.
Burgess goes on to cite Lucasz Olejnik, an independent cybersecurity and privacy researcher and consultant, who says quantum computers could have “the potential to break most current cryptography.” Olejnik says tech companies are taking the quantum threat very seriously, saying things are changing quickly, not least because post-quantum cryptography is still very young.
If things change quickly, isn’t there a risk that companies will move in the wrong direction and ultimately fail to provide protection? Apple appears to be hedging its bets, saying it is using a hybrid design combining current elliptic curve cryptography with new post-quantum protections, saying: “Defeating PQ3 security requires defeating both existing classical ECC cryptography and new ones.” post-quantum primitives. »
As mentioned above, one of the best things about this security development is that as soon as you install iOS 17.4, you are covered. You can read the latest details on the exact date of its availability here.
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News Source : www.forbes.com
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