Apple’s iMessage may be the playground for Anonymous to spread DDoS attacks, which coincidentally I was the victim of a few nights ago, but it seems the ability for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to eavesdrop on communications through its service has been posing quite the challenge for the organization.
According to a DEA intelligence note obtained by CNET, Apple’s iMessage service has made it “impossible to intercept iMessages between two Apple devices.” iMessage’s encryption methods were discovered while the DEA’s San Jose division were preparing a request to perform surveillance. Apple’s encryption made it difficult for agents’ ability to obtain the complete history of a person’s messages since it became apparent not all messages were being captured by carriers, such as Verizon who supplied the requested data to the organization.
If the DEA can’t even crack Apple’s iMessage encryption methods, we wonder if other chat clients are also safe to use since they technically shouldn’t show up in a carrier’s data. Either way, if you’re up to no good, then it looks like iMessage currently is the best way to communicate with one another. That is, unless you leave your iOS device unlocked on your nightstand. Then you’ll probably have a lot of explaining to do to your nosey girlfriend.
Filed in . Read more about Encryption, Imessage, iOS, iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.