New iMessage Feature Will Alert People If They Are Being Spied On, Apple Says

Apple's adding a series of new privacy features to iOS and iCloud. One of these is a new way for iMessage users to check if they're actually talking to the person they think. The new iMessage "Contact Key Verification" will be of most utility to people who "face extraordinary digital threats," - politicians, journalists, and activists.

Apple

Added security for Apple users

iMessage Contact Key Verification will ensure that no conversations are being snooped on. This feature might be especially useful in light of the Pegasus spyware leaks that saw prominent figures around the world being spied on by their own governments.

Also read: Google Is Shaming Apple For Keeping iMessage Exclusive To iPhone, Asks Them To Adopt RCS

According to a press release on Wednesday, if both people in an iMessage chat have the feature enabled, they would get an alert in case "an exceptionally advanced adversary, such as a state-sponsored attacker, were ever to succeed breaching cloud servers and inserting their own device to eavesdrop on these encrypted communications."

Apple

In addition, iMessage users would also be able to compare contact keys. While iMessage has end-to-end encryption, its iCloud backups didn't... until now. Apple announced yesterday that it will roll out Advanced Data Protection for iCloud, adding end-to-end encryption for those iCloud backups.

Also read: Google Finds Major Security Bugs In Apple's iMessage App That Can Impact User Privacy

Apple

The company is expanding the number of "data categories" protected by end-to-end encryption from 14 to 23 - with backups, Notes and Photos now covered. The feature will become available to all iMessage users around the world sometime next year.

What do you think about this feature? Let us know in the comments below. For more in the world of technology and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.

References

Apple. (2022, December 7). Apple advances user security with powerful new data protections. Apple Newsroom. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2022/12/apple-advances-user-security-with-powerful-new-data-protections/

Clark, M. (2022, December 7). Apple claims a new iMessage can alert you if state-sponsored spies are eavesdropping. The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/7/23498565/apple-imessage-icloud-data-protection-verification-security-keys