Given Apple’s big moves this week to roll out new data protection tools for iMessage and allow users to encrypt more of their data in iCloud, it seems obvious that security is going to be a major Apple priority in the year ahead.
Stamping out surveillance
The Biden administration’s decision to blacklist the mercenary hackers at NSO Group was a welcome move, but it hasn’t stopped the “surveillance-as-a-service” industry. Instead, it’s atomized it, which means we now have more companies offering such “services” than ever before.
Along with end-to-end encryption for iCloud, Apple’s cloud storage and computing platform, the company announced iMessage Contact Key Verification, allowing users to verify they are communicating only with whom they intend.
Apple
Apple also announced hardware Security Keys for Apple ID, giving users the choice to require two-factor authentication to sign into their Apple ID account. (Hardware security keys use devices, such as USB thumb drives or near-field communication (NFC) dongles, to enable access to a service or application.)