Apple to Encrypt Cloud Backups as Part of Security Revamp
Apple Inc. is upgrading security protections on its devices, adding the ability to encrypt iCloud data backups for the first time alongside new safeguards for iMessage and account logins.
The most significant new feature, Advanced Data Protection for iCloud, will end-to-end encrypt the storage of iCloud backups — a nearly full copy of the data on a user's iPhone and iPad — in addition to notes, photos, files, voice memos and messages. Previously, only some features, such as health data, passwords and payment information, were end-to-end encrypted.
End-to-end encryption means that the encryption keys are stored only on a user's devices instead of in data centers. That means that a hacker can't get the decryption key by breaching a server and then accessing a user's data.
The changes help fulfill longstanding customer requests and bolster an iCloud services business that has been a growth area for Apple in recent years. The iCloud offerings helped contribute to more than $78 billion in services sales for the company in the last fiscal year, up 14% from 2021.
While Apple's physical devices — like iPhones, iPads and Macs — already offer high-end encryption and advanced security tools, cloud storage has long been seen as more vulnerable. The latest moves aim to close that gap. Still, the end-to-end encryption won't support iCloud email, contacts and calendars. The company said that's because those features rely on legacy technologies and are used within third-party apps.
In the Messages app, Apple is adding Contact Key Verification. This feature, which is also offered by encrypted messaging apps like Signal, will let users verify who they are messaging with. The mechanism shows both texters the same code, which they can
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