Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced late last week that it will close down the free Wickr Me encrypted messaging service, saying in a blog post that it plans to “refocus” on its related AWS Wickr and Wickr Enterprise products at the expense of the consumer wing of the Wickr family.
Wickr has been in operation for a decade, making it one of the first end-to-end encrypted messaging apps on the market. Wickr Me was popular with journalists and whistleblowers alike as a method of secure communication of sensitive information, according to experts, but it was also alleged to be in wide use as a medium for illicit content like child sex abuse and drug transactions, according to a June report from NBC News.
