How Secure is iMessage?

guest · Jul 8, 2019

How Secure is iMessage?
Can Apple and/or law enforcement read your messages?
July 8, 2019
https://medium.com/of-the-nerds/how-secure-is-imessage-8cc7f6d40d8e

Of all large tech companies, Apple seems to have a pretty good track record of respecting and protecting the privacy of their users. But, iMessage in particular may be a different story.
End-to-end Encryption
First of all, Apple states that iMessage and FaceTime use end-to-end encryption:

Well, Apple seems off to a good a start by specifically stating they can’t decrypt your data in transit even if they wanted to. At rest is a different matter, but more on that later.
iCloud
Apple states that they can’t decrypt FaceTime or iMessage while in transit, which is true. But, they put the “in transit” bit in there for a good reason; they can technically read your messages when they’re not in transit.

Messages in iCloud also uses end-to-end encryption. If you have iCloud Backup turned on, your backup includes a copy of the key protecting your Messages.
Click to expand...

So, in theory, if Apple wanted/was forced to read your messages, they could. I don’t know why Apple in particular would want to, but that’s not really the concern. The concern is whether or not it’s possible for someone to read your messages, which it unfortunately is.

However, if you don’t want Apple to have any way to read your messages, you can turn off iCloud Backup
Encryption
It’s not like Apple doesn’t encrypt your data at all; they do. It’s just that Apple can decrypt the data that isn’t end-to-end encrypted. An even bigger concern, in my opinion, is that Apple doesn’t own all of the servers they use.

In some cases, your iCloud data may be stored using third-party partners’ servers…but these partners don’t have the keys to decrypt your data stored on their servers.
Click to expand...

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How Secure is iMessage?

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