Apple has taken another significant step towards improving the security of its messaging platform, iMessage. The introduction of Contact Key Verification adds an extra layer of security to iMessage conversations, protecting user data and privacy. In this article, we will explore what Contact Key Verification is and why it matters.
iMessage is a popular messaging platform known for its end-to-end encryption, which ensures that only the sender and the recipient can read the messages. With the new Contact Key Verification feature, Apple is making iMessage even more secure by allowing users to verify the identity of the person they are messaging with.
Contact Key Verification uses public key cryptography to establish a secure connection between the sender and receiver. Each iMessage user has a unique public key, which is stored on Apple's servers. When a user sends a message, their public key is used to encrypt the message. The recipient's device then uses their private key to decrypt and read the message. This ensures that only the intended recipient can access the content.
But what Contact Key Verification does differently is that it allows users to confirm that the public key used for encryption belongs to the person they intend to communicate with. This extra layer of verification prevents man-in-the-middle attacks, where an attacker intercepts and decrypts messages meant for someone else.
The implementation of Contact Key Verification is simple. Users can access the feature by tapping on the contact's name or picture in the chat. They can then view the contact's key and verify it through various methods like scanning a QR code or comparing a series of numbers with the contact in person.
This additional security feature is essential in today's digital landscape, where data breaches and cyberattacks are increasingly common. It ensures that even if someone gains access to your device, they cannot impersonate you or read your messages without proper verification.
Apple's commitment to user privacy is evident in this move. By giving users control over their message security, they are ensuring that iMessage remains one of the most secure messaging platforms available. Moreover, the public key infrastructure used in Contact Key Verification is a proven method for securing digital communications.
Over 10 million travelers have utilized Airside's shareable digital identification technology, which is regarded as reliable by many U.S. government organizations, including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The major airlines in the world are among its clients, permitting travelers to use the apps like Airside Digital Identity to breeze through US airports since the app provides users with official documents like government-issued ID and health records.
According to Onfido, which already provides ID verification to a variety of industries, the acquisition “will enable businesses to create a seamless user experience that supports more effective onboarding and expanded customer relationships, while radically reducing fraud and minimizing the liability associated with handling sensitive data.”
This partnership may have wide-ranging effects on the financial services sector because it will enable financial institutions to confirm a customer's ID without requiring them to scan and submit papers each time they sign up. KYC screening has grown to be a significant compliance burden for banks and other financial service providers since Russia's invasion of Ukraine triggered a series of international sanctions. Other uses include e-commerce and internet platforms in addition to travel and finances.
“Until now identity verification has digitised physical processes, but those processes haven’t changed[…]We’re still handing our identity over to be checked every time we access a new service. This partnership will change that, giving users control and organisations greater confidence in who their customers are. We plan to take Airside’s proven approach to the airline industry and apply it to other sectors requiring high customer assurance, such as financial services – providing a single, trusted view of each customer’s identity,” says Mike Tuchen, CEO of Onfido.
Meanwhile, Adam Tsao, Founder at Airside says, “By teaming up with Onfido and layering in their trusted verification technology with Airside’s Digital ID, we can take identity to the next level with the same ease and trust we have with online payments.” Apparently, Tsao is meant to stay with the company and supervise the product from within Onfido.
With the acquisition of Airside by Onfido, the company may move a step closer to digital IDs, which would be used anywhere once verified. Consumers will be able to utilize a single, integrated digital ID to authenticate their identity wherever they need to. Similar to how credit cards and mobile payments have lessened our daily reliance on cash, it may render traditional ID cards obsolete.
Consider entering a local bar and presenting your digital ID, which is kept in your digital wallet and also grants you access to internet services, as identification. Additionally, there would be no need to continuously scan or upload documents because your digital ID would be available for use at several points of service and would remain in your wallet.
Verifiable credentials are one of the methods that is gaining popularity for thwarting account compromise attacks. The concept includes using digital credentials that follow an open standard. Using digital credentials that follow an open standard is the idea. These credentials frequently contain information and components from verified tangible artefacts like a driver's license, passport, or their digital equivalents, such bank accounts.
Verifiable credentials are desirable because, unlike physical identifiers, they are much less susceptible to forgery and theft because of the usage of digital signatures. These digital credentials can be kept in a digital wallet on a PC or a smartphone, allowing trust to be built both within and between organizations.
Moreover, it has been swift in gaining popularity at a time when fraud, identity theft, and malware are on the rise. Additionally, when these digital artefacts are paired with a verifiable data registry, security safeguards are multiplied. Verifiable credentials also permit selective disclosure, which lets people choose to disclose only the information they need with a particular entity rather than all of their personal information.
This reduces the chance of identity theft and helps to protect critical information. We are listing some of the advantages presented by verifiable credentials:
Verifying an individual’s identity is an easy task when it comes to the physical world. Birth certificates, utility bills, and government IDs serve as a source to determine that the person is in fact who he claims he is. The person has been verified by a reliable source, and they have been given an artefact they can use to confirm facts. As a result, it is now conceivable for someone to get on a plane, apply for government aid, or open a bank account.
On the other hand, in the online world, their seems to be no central authority of a person’s identity. Each organization, website, or account needs a unique username and password. While some major corporations, including Google, Apple, and Facebook, have tried to combine identities using their single sign-on (SSO) login credentials, there is still no central authority to certify genuine identities.
On of the tactics that has emerged as a breakthrough in transforming the physical world’s security into the digital realms is: entering verifiable credentials and verifiable data registries.
Verifiable credentials can increase system resilience in the event of a network or identity provider failure. For instance, it is still possible to confirm a user's identity if a natural disaster like a hurricane strikes and puts an identity provider offline. The fact that the user's device stores their signed credentials allows them to be supplied to an application, which can then utilize a cached copy of the user's public key to verify the credentials. Another illustration would be cruise ships, which are well known for having unstable or slow satellite Internet connections. Onboard applications may still confirm a user's identity and let users make dinner or entertainment bookings, or book excursions, using the verifiable credentials flow.
Shifting to verified credentials with verifiable data registries could itself convey certain challenges. Applications must typically be rewritten in order to support them. By orchestrating the decoupling of identification from apps, this obstacle can be solved. This enables the migration of brittle, legacy services to distributed, robust systems without changing the codebases of the aforementioned legacy applications.
Companies looking forward to adopting verifiable credentials are advised to focus on two key areas:
Several organizations are now realizing the need to take a more sophisticated and forward-looking approach as the issues associated with digital identity verification increase. A route to more effective and resilient security is provided by verifiable credentials and verifiable data registries.