Apple Boosts Security With New iMessage, Apple ID, and iCloud Protections

Apple on Wednesday announced^[1]
a raft of security measures, including an Advanced Data Protection
setting that enables end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) data backups in
its iCloud service.

The headlining feature, when turned on, is expected to secure 23
data categories using E2EE, including device and message backups,
iCloud Drive, Notes, Photos, Reminders, Voice Memos, Safari
Bookmarks, Siri Shortcuts, and Wallet Passes.

The iPhone maker said the only major iCloud data categories that
are still not protected by E2EE are Mail, Contacts, and Calendar
because of the “need to interoperate with the global email,
contacts, and calendar systems” that use legacy technologies.

Advanced Data Protection’s E2EE protections for iCloud also mean
that users’ personal data can only be decrypted on their trusted
devices, which retain the encryption keys.

“If you enable Advanced Data Protection and then lose access to
your account, Apple will not have the encryption keys to help you
recover it — you’ll need to use your device passcode or password, a
recovery contact, or a personal recovery key,” Apple explains^[2] in a support
document.

With the latest move, Apple has addressed a long-standing
criticism^[3] that it holds the
encryption keys to iCloud backups, thereby making the information
vulnerable to data breaches, law enforcement requests, and even
Apple’s own employees.

The use of encryption^[4]
to safeguard user data^[5]
has been inexorably intertwined with a challenge that’s referred to
as “going dark^[6],” wherein government
agencies are hampered in their ability to gather incriminating
digital evidence against serious crimes and other criminal
investigations.

Alongside the news of expanded end-to-end encryption, Cupertino
confirmed that it has abandoned its controversial plans^[7]
for scanning messages for child sexual abuse material (CSAM) stored
in iCloud Photos, according to reports from The Wall Street Journal^[8]
and WIRED^[9].

“Child sexual abuse can be headed off before it occurs,” Craig
Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering,
was quoted as saying. “That’s where we’re putting our energy going
forward.”

In a related security-themed upgrade, Apple is also expanding
two-factor authentication for Apple
ID^[10] with support for
hardware security keys and is launching a new iMessage security
feature called Contact Key Verification to ensure that “they are
messaging only with the people they intend.”

The functionality, mainly geared towards journalists, human
rights activists, and members of government, is designed such that
automatic alerts are sent should a nation-state adversary
successfully breach its cloud infrastructure and add a rogue Apple
device to eavesdrop on the encrypted communications.

“And for even higher security, iMessage Contact Key Verification
users can compare a Contact Verification Code in person, on
FaceTime, or through another secure call,” the tech giant said,
mirroring a similar feature offered by Signal.

It is, however, worth noting at this point that iMessage is an
instant messaging platform exclusive to the Apple ecosystem, and is
not compatible with other major operating systems like Android and
Windows.

These lock-in barriers also means that the new security
protections cease to apply when communicating with users of Android
smartphones, in which case Apple’s Messages app delivers the chat
content in the form of regular, unencrypted SMS messages.

Apple, for its part, has dismissed the idea^[11] of upgrading SMS/MMS to
RCS^[12], an improved messaging
standard with E2EE, high quality media sharing, read receipts, and
typing indicators.

The security features arrive nearly three months after Apple
announced another optional feature called Lockdown Mode^[13] that is designed to
protect iPhones and its other products against intrusions from
state-backed hackers and commercial spyware.

Advanced Data Protection for iCloud is expected to be available
to U.S. users by the end of the year with iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2,
and macOS 13.1. The feature is set to be rolled out globally in
2023, alongside Security Keys for Apple ID and iMessage Contact Key
Verification.

The upcoming iOS 16.2 update is also set to enforce an AirDrop
limitation that was originally introduced in China^[14] with iOS 16.1.1,
restricting wireless transfers from non-contacts in close proximity
for only a period of 10 minutes in an effort to cut down on
spam.