Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Jul 14, 2025

iMessage Security BlastDoor

iMessage just got an amazing new feature you didn’t even notice

Apple quietly added a new iMessage security feature in iOS 14 called BlastDoor. BlastDoor is a new sandbox inside iMessage that receives and sanitizes all iMessage content before it’s shown to the user. The security feature will prevent attacks via iMessage that might include malicious code for spying on iPhones.

One of the most important apps on any phone, regardless of model or operating system, is the messaging app. The chances are most people use a collection of texting apps to keep in touch with friends and family. These apps have grown to be highly sophisticated over the years, offering a collection of advanced features to improve the chat experience.

Whether it’s iMessage on an iPhone, Google Messages on Android, or WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, and many others on both platforms, these apps offer essentially the same features. Many protect chats with end-to-end encryption, and most of them support rich texting features, file-sharing, emojis, voice messaging, voice calling, and integration with many other apps.

But because texting is so popular on smartphones, it’s also a great gateway for hackers who come up with all sorts of malicious attacks that can spread via chat apps. And Apple has been quietly tackling that very problem, a new report shows. The company added an amazing new feature to iMessage in iOS 14 and iPadOS 14, the kind that we’ll never notice. It’s called BlasstDoor, an apt name for what the feature is supposed to do.

When Tony Stark asks his AI Friday to activate the “Armed Door” protocol in Endgame, a shield of armor envelops the Avengers headquarters. That’s because they’re about to attempt something never done before, which could lead to a huge wave of destruction. There’s no guarantee that the armor will actually hold back a potential blast, but Stark is trying it nonetheless. Marvel fans will surely remember the scene, while others won’t know what any of this means.

The gist with BlastDoor is similar. Everything coming in via iMessage goes through a secure location meant to contain threats that hackers might include in messages. Highly sophisticated information bombs can allow hackers to attack unsuspecting iPhone users, but BlastDoor will now stop all of that. The new security feature is amazing, and it’s something other operating systems and chat apps will undoubtedly copy. After all, hackers target all devices and programs, not just Apple’s.

As to why Apple never mentioned anything about BlastDoor during WWDC 2020 when the first final version of iOS 14 shipped, that’s understandable. This is Apple’s new move in an ongoing security battle with attackers. There’s no point showing your hand when it comes to BlastDoor. It’s not a feature that device owners will actively use or that iOS developers needed to be aware of.

It’s all supposed to work passively in the background, keeping everybody safe. If security experts like the people working over at Google Zero Lab discover it, that’s something else — and hackers could also find it once they realize their weaponized messages aren’t delivering the desired effect.

First picked up by ZDNet, the BlastDoor feature was indeed discovered by a Googler from Project Zero.

Last year, a report showed that hackers targeted journalists via iMessage code that enabled spying without the recipient having to do anything. But the issue was fixed in iOS 14, so Google researcher Samuel Groß set out to discover how Apple mitigated the problem. That’s how he found BlastDoor, a feature that works behind the scenes with iMessage content.

It’s a “sandbox” type of functionality, similar to other sandboxes in iOS. BlastDoor will unpack and process the content of all incoming messages in an isolated environment so that a malicious payload cannot attack the operating system. In other words, every attachment and all code coming through iMessage, whether it’s the actual text, links, or files, will be sanitized inside that closed environment.

If you still haven’t upgraded to iOS 14, BlastDoor is an excellent reason to do it, especially if you’re the kind of iPhone user who might be someone’s target.

“Overall, these changes are probably very close to the best that could’ve been done given the need for backwards compatibility, and they should have a significant impact on the security of iMessage and the platform as a whole,” the Googler wrote. “It’s great to see Apple putting aside the resources for these kinds of large refactorings to improve end users’ security.

Furthermore, these changes also highlight the value of offensive security work: not just single bugs were fixed, but instead structural improvements were made based on insights gained from exploit development work.”

Groß’s blog post detailing the new iMessage security feature is available at this link.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
President Trump Visits Flood-Ravaged Texas, Praises Community Strength and First Responders
From Mystery to Meltdown, Crisis Within the Trump Administration: Epstein Files Ignite A Deepening Rift at the Highest Levels of Government Reveals Chaos, Leaks, and Growing MAGA Backlash
Trump Slams Putin Over War Death Toll, Teases Major Russia Announcement
Reparations argument crushed
Rainmaker CEO Says Cloud Seeding Paused Before Deadly Texas Floods
A 92-year-old woman, who felt she doesn't belong in a nursing home, escaped the death-camp by climbing a gate nearly 8 ft tall
French Journalist Acquitted in Controversial Case Involving Brigitte Macron
Elon Musk’s xAI Targets $200 Billion Valuation in New Fundraising Round
Kraft Heinz Considers Splitting Off Grocery Division Amid Strategic Review
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
EU Proposes New Tax on Large Companies to Boost Budget
Trump Imposes 35% Tariffs on Canadian Imports Amid Trade Tensions
Junior Doctors in the UK Prepare for Five-Day Strike Over Pay Disputes
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Biden’s Doctor Pleads the Fifth to Avoid Self-Incrimination on President’s Medical Fitness
Grok Chatbot Faces International Backlash for Antisemitic Content
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
×