We may soon live in a world where large messaging platforms will be able to seamlessly communicate with each other. Google is taking the first step into this new world, announcing this week it will support the Message Layer Security (MLS) standard with plans to incorporate the protocol into its Messages app.
As Google points out in its Security Blog announcement, one of the annoyances concerning messaging apps is the lack of interoperability. Each platform has differing opinions on what they consider to be robust end-to-end encryption for texts. Developers don’t want to lower their “security standards to cater for the lowest common denominator and raise implementation costs”. If they did, the result would be, as Google puts it, “a spaghetti of ad hoc middleware” potentially endangering user information. MLS, however, aims to be a universal standard for everyone. It could be the solution these tech companies need.
