Cloud security enhanced
Optional new features to protect your data
BY ALEX SU MMERSBY
APPLE HAS BEEFED up security for user data and communications in the cloud with three new features.
Image rights: Apple Inc.
> iMessage Contact Key Verification: On top of the existing end–to–end encryption in iMessage, this adds a way to further verify that you are messaging only with the people you intend. It is designed for the same high–risk users as Lockdown Mode — journalists, diplomats, activists, and so on. Conversations between users who enable the feature receive automatic alerts if a very advanced adversary, such as a state–sponsored attacker, ever succeeds in breaching cloud servers and inserting its own device to eavesdrop on messages. For even higher security, users can compare a Contact Verification Code in person, on FaceTime (which has also used encryption since launch), or through another secure call.