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Apple is set to release one of its most important security updates ever to address the “quantum apocalypse.”
A new iMessage update will keep your messages safe even after the advent of quantum computing, the iPhone maker says.
Currently, messaging platforms use traditional encryption to protect messages, and only the sender and recipient of the text can read the text. It works by relying on difficult mathematical problems that computers cannot solve.
But computer scientists believe that quantum computers could emerge in the coming decades and have the power to solve previously unsolvable mathematical puzzles. Therefore, anyone who can intercept the messages may be able to decode these messages.
Experts call the event “quantum apocalypse.” Quantum computers are being developed for potentially transformative applications in everything from healthcare to artificial intelligence, but researchers are also exploring the possibilities that could arise from quantum computers breaking their codes. We have also worked to avoid certain dangerous scenarios.
Although such quantum computers may be decades away, experts warn that it’s important to start securing your security systems now. This is in part due to “harvest now, decrypt later” attacks, where attackers steal encrypted data and store it until a quantum computer can read it.
Since then, security researchers have been working on a technology known as post-quantum cryptography (PQC). It uses a new algorithm that cannot compete with quantum computers, but can run on today’s classical computers and protect messages.
Apple’s response to this concern is called PQ3. Apple said it required a complete redesign of the protocols used to keep iMessage conversations secure, which it claimed would give the platform the strongest security system of any large messaging platform. .
The new system is already being rolled out in the beta version of iMessage, and the public version of the software will be available on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Watch later this year. According to Apple, by the end of the year, PQ3 will replace the existing protocol in all supported conversations.
It will first be introduced in iMessage. But Apple has hinted that the same technology will be rolled out to other parts of its services that rely on encryption to keep data safe.
Apple announced details about PQ3 in a lengthy post on its security blog. Douglas Stevila of the University of Waterloo also shared information about the technology with academics and argued that the new system should keep messages secure “against both classical and quantum adversaries.” supported the paper written by.
Other companies, including Google, are working on similar updates to reduce the threat quantum computing poses to their security tools. Many of these updates are the result of research by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which is leading research to build new types of encryption that are secure from attacks from both quantum and classical computing. is.
Experts have been concerned about post-quantum cryptography for decades, but NIST announced a new project in 2015 to standardize new security techniques that can counter attacks from quantum computers, and helped launch recent efforts. did. In 2022, he announced the selection of four new systems, and since then the technology company has been working on integrating them.
