Amazon shuts Wickr Me encrypted messaging service; enterprise service stays
AWS’ free Wickr Me end-to-end encrypted messaging service will shut down on the finish of 2023, as the corporate focuses its safe communications on enterprise and authorities contracts.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) introduced late final week that it’ll shut down the free Wickr Me encrypted messaging service, saying in a weblog submit that it plans to “refocus” on its associated AWS Wickr and Wickr Enterprise merchandise on the expense of the patron wing of the Wickr household.
Wickr has been in operation for a decade, making it one of many first end-to-end encrypted messaging apps in the marketplace. Wickr Me was well-liked with journalists and whistleblowers alike as a way of safe communication of delicate info, in keeping with consultants, nevertheless it was additionally alleged to be in vast use as a medium for illicit content material like youngster intercourse abuse and drug transactions, in keeping with a June report from NBC News.
Amazon’s assertion on the pending closure of Wickr Me doesn’t handle these allegations instantly, nevertheless it does emphasize a renewed concentrate on the enterprise and authorities variations of the app. Wickr is a comparatively latest acquisition by Amazon, having began life in 2012 as a public-facing app earlier than being bought in the summertime of 2021 by the hyperscaler. Amazon, on the time, indicated that the acquisition was geared toward bettering safety for its many giant organizational prospects, who face rising threats given the shift to hybrid working.
“Public sector customers use Wickr for a diverse range of missions, from securely communicating with office-based employees to providing service members at the tactical edge with encrypted communications,” stated Steve Schmidt, AWS vice chairman and CISO, in a weblog submit on the time of the acquisition. “Wickr’s secure communications solutions help enterprises and government organizations adapt to this change in their workforces and is a welcome addition to the growing set of collaboration and productivity services that AWS offers customers and partners.”
Wickr Me remains to be working in the intervening time, however will cease accepting new customers on the finish of December. The platform itself will stay in operation for one 12 months after that, with Amazon planning to close the system down fully on December 31, 2023. The firm stated in its assertion at present that it’ll present particulars “in the coming months” on ways in which present customers can protect their knowledge from the Wickr Me platform.