Messages sent to and from Apple's iCloud servers just got more secure. The iPhone-maker has begun encrypting all email moving in and out of its iCloud servers. This will affect those who use iCloud.com, me.com and mac.com email addresses.
The change means that Apple will scramble the message after you hit send and unscramble it once it has been received. So even if your sensitive information has been intercepted as it makes its way to your recipient, all the hacker will see is gibberish. Of course, an able snoop (cough, the NSA) can find ways to decode your data, but this puts another obstacle in its way.
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For this in-transit encryption to work, Apple has to reach an agreement with rival email service providers (such as Google, Yahoo or Microsoft) on what reciprocal encryption protocols to use.
Apple's move comes after Google called out the company, along with several others, for not encrypting messages between Gmail's servers and Apple's. Email originating from apple.com had already been encrypted at the time, but me.com and mac.com addresses were not.
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