Amazon acquires encrypted messaging service Wickr

Amazon acquires the encrypted messaging service Wicker. The company reports this in a blog post. It is unclear how much Amazon paid for the acquisition. A modified version of the messaging service is currently used by the United States Air Force.

“Wickr has the most secure and end-to-end encrypted communication technology in house,” said AWS CEO Stephen Schmidt in a blog post in which he also mentions that the messaging service will be offered immediately to AWS customers. “Wickr allows customers and partners to take advantage of advanced security features not available on traditional communication platforms.”

Wickr uses end-to-end encryption and other extensive security features, making the service used by major corporations and international government agencies such as the German Federal Police Service Bundeskriminalamt and the US Department of Defense.

In early April, the United States Air Force chose to deploy a modified version of Wickr-Enterprise, Wickr RAM, for its communications purposes. According to the company behind the chat application, this version version met the high security standards of the US Department of Defense.