Apple Rolls Out Post-Quantum 3 (PQ3) Messaging Encryption

2024-02-28 • SEND FEEDBACK |
Related: encryption, security

re: security and encryption

Excellent. I’m glad my cat videos will be private now and forever.

You have no computing security, but not because of over-the-wire concerns. Anything transmitted should be considered compromised. More on that below.

iMessage with PQ3: The new state of the art in quantum-secure messaging at scale

2024-02-23

Today we are announcing the most significant cryptographic security upgrade in iMessage history with the introduction of PQ3, a groundbreaking post-quantum cryptographic protocol that advances the state of the art of end-to-end secure messaging. With compromise-resilient encryption and extensive defenses against even highly sophisticated quantum attacks, PQ3 is the first messaging protocol to reach what we call Level 3 security — providing protocol protections that surpass those in all other widely deployed messaging apps. To our knowledge, PQ3 has the strongest security properties of any at-scale messaging protocol in the world.

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Although quantum computers with this capability don’t exist yet, extremely well-resourced attackers can already prepare for their possible arrival by taking advantage of the steep decrease in modern data storage costs. The premise is simple: such attackers can collect large amounts of today’s encrypted data and file it all away for future reference. Even though they can’t decrypt any of this data today, they can retain it until they acquire a quantum computer that can decrypt it in the future, an attack scenario known as Harvest Now, Decrypt Later.

To mitigate risks from future quantum computers, the cryptographic community has been working on post-quantum cryptography (PQC): new public key algorithms that provide the building blocks for quantum-secure protocols but don’t require a quantum computer to run — that is, protocols that can run on the classical, non-quantum computers we’re all using today, but that will remain secure from known threats posed by future quantum computers.

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Quantum-Secure Cryptography in Messaging Apps

MPG: the government can track you wherever you go, and through hundreds of databases. If you carry a phone or drive anywhere or eat food, a great deal can be know about you—and your banks, etc spy on you too. Good luck!

With all this long explanation, I still cannot figure out whether Apple can read my messages, email, etc. Is it end-to-end or not?

On top of that, security is only as good as its weakest link:

• The receiver can reveal the conversation and is subject to all sorts of security attacks that could do so.
• Your device can be compromised, directly revealing decoded messages, keylogging, etc.

If you think you have privacy with an app like iMessage and/or Signal, think again. If you are important enough to a Power, they’ll find a way.