The whole point of encryption is to ensure privacy, where even if messages or emails are intercepted halfway, as long as the attacker does not have the decryption key, they still will not be able to read it. However, an armor is only as strong as its weakest link, and it has been recently found out that macOS has a flaw which reveals portions of emails that are supposed to encrypted.
This is according to developer Bob Gentler who discovered that within macOS, there is a database file used by Siri that actually stores text from emails that are supposed to encrypted and protected. This means that hackers could potentially read your emails, or at least parts of it.
It is unclear which parts of the email are being stored in the file, but we imagine that in some cases, potentially sensitive information could be stored in it which could prove to be troublesome. This particular vulnerability is also said to be in at least four versions of macOS, ranging from Sierra to Catalina.
That being said, the good news is that Apple is aware of the vulnerability and have told Engadget that they will be issuing a fix for the problem shortly. We’re not sure when that will be, but in the meantime, you can disable Siri for emails by going to System Preferences > Siri > Siri Suggestions & Privacy > Mail and turning it off.
Filed in . Read more about macOS and Privacy. Source: engadget