In context: Quantum computing should still be in its infancy, nevertheless it’s anticipated to carry a seismic shift within the trade with compute speeds that may very well be 1,000,000 occasions sooner than fashionable supercomputers. Given their unmatched energy, quantum computer systems might give rise to large cybersecurity dangers that specialists imagine most enterprises are at the moment ill-equipped to cope with.
Apple, nonetheless, is one tech firm that’s attempting to get forward of the curve with new options that promise to safe iMessage in opposition to potential threats from highly effective quantum computer systems. In a blog post, the corporate introduced that its messaging service will likely be encrypted with a post-quantum cryptographic protocol referred to as PQ3, which is claimed to supply “the strongest safety properties of any at-scale messaging protocol on this planet.”
Based on Apple, PQ3 is designed to sort out the threats posed by quantum computing, which may crack fashionable cryptographic protocols rapidly and effectively, thereby compromising information safety. Though present quantum computer systems don’t threaten the safety of end-to-end encrypted communications, the brand new expertise is designed to deal with threats reminiscent of “harvest now, decrypt later” assaults, the place malicious actors can steal massive quantities of information and retain it till quantum computing can decrypt them sooner or later.
Apple additionally claimed that PQ3 will provide iMessage “Stage 3” safety, the place post-quantum cryptography is used to safe communications, together with “the preliminary key institution and the continuing message trade.” For the uninitiated, Stage 0 refers to unencrypted messaging, whereas Stage 1 refers to end-to-end encrypted communications with no extra identification authentication. Information encryption companies that use identification authentication and quantum safety are mentioned to have Stage 2 safety.
The addition of the brand new safety protocol places iMessage in the identical league as Sign, which added assist for the PQXDH safety protocol final yr to develop into the primary mainstream messaging app to introduce post-quantum safety. Nonetheless, Apple claims that PQ3 makes iMessage safer than Sign, which it says solely achieved Stage 2 safety, as its safety protocol solely applies post-quantum cryptography to the preliminary key institution.
PQ3 assist has already been baked into the developer preview and beta releases of iOS 17.4, iPadOS 17.4, macOS 14.4, and watchOS 10.4, and can begin rolling out to all customers with the respective secure releases later this yr. iMessage conversations between gadgets operating the aforementioned working techniques will mechanically improve to PQ3 encryption, and it’ll step by step exchange the prevailing protocol inside all supported conversations by the tip of this yr.
