iMessages are now protected with quantum computing!

That is not a joke or concept title. Apple is really protecting iMessage with quantum computing now!!! iMessage is now rebuilt security-wise to be protected with the post-quantum cryptographic protocol PQ3 (a level 3 post-quantum cryptography (PQC)), the latest in a long line of security updates over the years that have made iMessage extremely secure. There isn’t yet an industry protocol for ranking regular vs. PQC standards, so Apple made its own, and that’s why PQC is referred to as a level 3 PQC. According to Apple, Signal’s move from end-to-end encryption (E2E encryption for short) to PQC “is a welcome and critical step”, but even though the move (to level 2) brought Signal’s privacy above all others, PQC is only offered when the conversation key isn’t compromised, a problem which is eliminated with the new iMessage security via ongoing rekeying (which allows for automatic restoration of conversation security even if the key for that conversation is compromised). Looking ahead to the future, Apple thinks that future generations of PQC will allow PQC authentication along with the features in the current level 3.

Even though security scientists say that the quantum computing heyday isn’t in a decade or more, it’s still important to protect against future cyberattacks on messaging platforms powered by current tech, including an attack named “Harvest Now, Decrypt Later” that uses data storage to collect lots of encrypted data and keep it until sufficient quantum technologies are available to decrypt the data…

…And it's only for conversations with both devices on iOS 17.4/iPadOS 17.4/macOS Sonoma 14.4/watchOS 10.4, all currently in beta and due to be released on March 5. And you might not even get it at first, although it’s going to be on every device this year. Too bad. But it's still an important upgrade, preparing iMessage for the quantum computer era.

By Leo