When iOS 174 is released in March, the best iPhones will receive a major security upgrade to protect against attacks using quantum computers Yes, Apple has that much foresight

Apple's iMessage may be known for its cross-device capabilities and the ability to send text messages over Wi-Fi for free, but it is actually one of the premier encrypted messaging apps long before Signal was introduced, Apple offered end-to-end encrypted chat by default to iPhone and Mac users since 2011, when iMessage was first released

Over the years, iPhone manufacturers have significantly upgraded the cryptography used in iMessage, making the service more secure For example, in 2019, Apple switched its cryptographic protocol from RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman) to elliptic curves The company then added Secure Enclave to its service to make it even more difficult to extract encryption keys from iPhones

Now, however, Apple is taking iMessage to the next level by adding post-quantum cryptography (PQC) Here is everything you need to know about this new cryptographic protocol and how it will keep your iMessage chats safe from hackers for years to come

Despite recent advances, quantum computing is still in its infancy, but companies around the world are working to make it a reality According to McKinsey, a "massively functional" quantum computer "may not be feasible before 2040" or even later Still, however, companies are preparing for the post-quantum world right now [The reason for this is the "Harvest Now, Decrypt Later" attack scenario that could be used by hackers and other cybercriminals As a result of the plummeting cost of data storage, hackers can collect large amounts of encrypted data now and store the data until they can later decrypt it using a quantum computer

Unlike classical and traditional computers, quantum computers have no problem breaking current encryption standards because of their increased processing power Therefore, it is highly likely that messages encrypted with the best protocols available today can be decrypted using a quantum computer in the future

For this reason, the cryptographic community is focusing on developing post-quantum cryptography (PQC) These new public key algorithms are designed to provide the building blocks for future quantum secure protocols However, quantum computers are not required to run these algorithms

Recently, Signal added support for the PQXDH protocol, and Apple has developed its own cryptographic protocol called PQ3 While we will have to wait a while before we can get our hands on a quantum computer, Apple's support for PQ3 will begin next month with the public release of iOS 174, iPadOS 174, macOS 144, and watchOS 104 In fact, this new cryptographic protocol has already been tested in Apple's developer preview and beta releases

Once the company gains worldwide "operational experience" with PQ3 in iMessage, this new protocol will replace the existing one in all supported conversations later this year

It may seem a bit odd that Apple is currently worried about future quantum attacks, but these concerns are shared by other large companies Moreover, now that Apple is rolling out PQ3 support on its devices, other companies will follow suit with their own quantum-proof protocols

Quantum computers have the potential to change our world even more than the advent of ChatGPT two years ago For example, even the best password managers will have a hard time protecting your credentials unless they follow the same path as Apple If breaking a strong cryptographic protocol is this easy for a quantum computer, imagine how quickly it can access your passwords

When iOS 174 is released, we will be able to try PQ3 in action, but for now, we do not yet know how or even if this new cryptographic protocol will change the way we use iMessage But it probably won't, and it will take the form of a background update designed to make chatting on the iPhone more secure, without changing its functionality