- Apple has started rolling out the featureiMessage Contact Key Verification
- Currently in beta version, it cannot yet be used
- The principle consists of warning users if spyware is using their iMessage account from another device that does not belong to them
Just a few hours ago, Apple deployed the first beta version ofiOS 16.6for iPhone users. On the menu, mainly security-related improvements and bug fixes. But an additional functionality also seems to be included (or almost, we will come back to it later): iMessage Contact Key Verification. No official translation for the moment, but the developer has at least enlightened us on the principle of this tool, which allows Internet users to benotified when a third party has successfully accessed their iMessage account.
Within the Messages app, if an intrusion is detected, an alert is displayed at the bottom of the conversation. This indicates that an unknown device may have accessed the discussions:
“An unrecognized device may have been added to [contact]’s account“
Following this, the user then has the option to verify the integrity of their account by following steps – which have not yet been revealed – after tappingOptions.
More information in a future beta?
If we don't know more at the moment, it's because the functionalityiMessage Contact Key Verificationdoes not actually seem active. Indeed, it does indeed appear in the appSettingsof the iPhone, where most of the privacy settings are stored, but nothing happens when you touch it.
It is therefore a safe bet that this option is still being coded, with a final version which will probably be released as part of a future beta of iOS 16.6 within a few weeks. In any case, this would not be the first time that Apple has published such an incomplete change, this habit being not uncommon at Apple. Moreover, those who download an advanced version of the operating system know: bugs are not rare.
Better fight againsteavesdropping
More concretely,iMessage Contact Key Verificationshould allow at-risk audiences to better protect themselves against targeted spyware attacks (eavesdropping). We are thinking here in particular of whistleblowers, political opponents of authoritarian regimes, journalists or even celebrities, people of interest and other great fortunes like Jeff Bezos, already preciselytouchby theeavesdropping.
One of the techniques used by hackers consists of using a program likePegasus, installed on a computer, to identify themselves remotely on their target's iPhone and take control of it discreetly. Except that Cupertinoknowsthe list of devices that the victim generally uses, and can therefore detect if an unknown source is intruding. This is where the alert is given for a compromised account.
Let us remember, however, thatno system is infallible, and that it is very possible that, upon releaseiMessage Contact Key Verification, NSO Groupe engineers are beginning their search for security vulnerabilities to circumvent this new protection. What’s more, this wouldn’t have entirely been able to protect the Amazon boss, since it was via his WhatsApp account that the theft would have taken place – and not via iMessage…
i-nfo.fr - Official iPhon.fr app
By : Keleops AG
