Apple is rolling out an upgrade to its iMessage texting platform to defend
against future encryption-breaking technologies.
The new protocol, known as PQ3, is another sign that US tech firms are
bracing for a potential future breakthrough in quantum computing that could
make current methods of protecting users' communications obsolete.
"More than simply replacing an existing algorithm with a new one, we rebuilt
the iMessage cryptographic protocol from the ground up," an Apple blog post
published on Wednesday reads. "It will fully replace the existing protocol
within all supported conversations this year."
The Cupertino, California-based iPhone maker says its encryption algorithms
are state-of-the-art and that it has found no evidence so far of a
successful attack on them. Still, government officials and scientists are
concerned that the advent of quantum computers, advanced machines that tap
in to the properties of subatomic particles, could suddenly and dramatically
weaken those protections.
Late last year, a Reuters investigation explored how the United States and
China are racing to prepare for that moment, dubbed "Q-Day," both by pouring
money into quantum research and by investing in new encryption standards
known as post-quantum cryptography.
Washington and Beijing have traded allegations of intercepting massive
amounts of encrypted data in preparation for Q-Day, an approach sometimes
dubbed "catch now, crack later."
"Early planning is necessary," the US cyber watchdog agency, the
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said in a 2022 advisory.
"Cyber threat actors could be targeting data today that would still require
protection in the future."
Apples blog says PQ3 uses a new and overlapping series of technical
safeguards aimed at closing that window of opportunity.
Michael Biercuk, the founder and chief executive of the quantum tech company
Q-CTRL, said the fact that Apple was publicly hardening its defenses was a
"vote of confidence" in the idea that advanced computers could one day lay
waste to existing protections.
"They are indicating that they believe this is a realistic threat and are
preparing actively for it," he said.
RTÉ Technology.
