iMessage just took a massive step in improving its security

Apple’s iMessage is a popular messaging tool, especially in the western part of the world. However, its existence on Apple iPhones, some of the most widely used smartphones on the planet, is not the only reason that makes the instant messaging app so popular.

Among reasons like a deeply integrated UI and lots of fun features, iMessage is also known for its encrypted security, something that Apple often used as a shield against RCS support until recently.

Now, however, iMessage is set to take its secure foundations up a notch, implementing a trick or two from rival messaging application Signal, which since the past few years, has been known to be one of the most secure messaging tools around.

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Earlier this week, Apple announced that messages sent through iMessage will now be protected by not one, but two forms of end-to-end encryption (E2EE). The new level of encryption being added is PQ3, an improved version of PQC (post-quantum computing) encryption methods.

What exactly makes the new encryption so secure?

PQ3 encryption is more secure than previous kinds of encryption (including the one iMessage has been using so far). This is largely because conventional forms of encryption, can often be cracked by modern, powerful quantum computing.

On the other hand, PQ3 uses a new algorithm called ‘Kyber’ that is reportedly immune to quantum computing-powered cracking. What’s even better is that Apple is not replacing its older encryption implementation, but actually fortifying it with PQ3.

This means attackers trying to forcibly crack their way into an iMessage conversation, must now get through not one, but two locks, one of which is unlikely to be opened by your average lockpicking tools.

Signal may have inspired Apple to take the step

The new changes come about five months after the Signal Foundation (which is behind the Signal Protocol that makes the rival app so secure) updated its open standard. This allowed for Signal to also add the Kyber algorithm to its existing X3DH algorithm, to similarly double up on its security measures.

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The new changes make both iMessage and Signal some of the most secure modes of mainstream communication right now, which in an age of data breaches and general privacy concerns, will come as great news to the general public. Now, lets hope other messaging apps also pick up on the change.