Cybersecurity

Apple Boosts iMessage Security to Fend Off Quantum Computing Attacks

  • Company seeks to stop ‘harvest now, decrypt later’ attacks
  • Apple touts iMessage as the most secure messaging platform

The Apple Messages app.

Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

Apple Inc. is upgrading the security of its iMessage app, aiming to fend off a looming future threat: advanced quantum computing attacks.

The changes will be part of a new system called PQ3, Apple said on Wednesday. It’s a more advanced type of encryption that could thwart attacks from quantum computers — still-nascent technology that can perform calculations exponentially faster than traditional machines.