96 Macworld • April 2020OPINION
If you feel like we’ve been here before, it’s
because we have. Back in 2016, the FBI wanted
Apple to unlock a phone belonging to the San
Bernardino shooter; Apple declined to help, as
doing so would have potentially compromised the
security of all of its devices. Eventually, the bureau
sought help from an Israeli-based cybersecurity
firm who was able to hack into phone in question.
Leaving aside the dangers inherent in the
creation of back doors into the technology we all
rely upon, I think this is as good a time as any for
Apple to double down on its (already pretty solid)
security focus. Because when it comes to digital
information and our devices, what we need is not
less security, but more.It’s MIME time
Apple has long touted the end-to-end encryption
of its iMessage and FaceTime systems, but when
it comes to email, the company hasn’t made any
commensurate moves. Apple’s iCloud security
overview states that though traffic between your
Apple devices and the iCloud Mail system is
encrypted, the data stored on the mail server is
not encrypted, which the company describes as
“consistent with standard industry practice”. And,
of course, when your email message goes out to
a recipient, the security is only as strong as the
weakest link in the chain.
With social media, Slack, and other messaging
apps, we might feel like we’re over email, but the
fact remains that so much of our online lives still