Why Amazon Acquired Wickr & What The Purchase Means For Users

Amazon‘s cloud computing division AWS (Amazon Web Services) has acquired encrypted messaging platform Wickr for an undisclosed sum. Wickr caters to regular users and small businesses with a free ‘Basic’ plan that offers voice and video calling, secure screen sharing, and protected data retention for a month among a few other benefits. The paid tiers targeted the enterprise sector throw in some extra benefits, such as unlimited storage, no cap on the number of users, priority access to support channel, and pre-configured security groups — all of which sound like traits that a company worried about the safety of its communication channels would happily invest in.

As for its standard set of messaging capabilities, Wickr allows encrypted direct messages as well as group chats, voice and video calling, multimedia file sharing, and file shredding. Claiming to be the only collaboration platform that adheres to all of the security guidelines put in place by the National Security Agency (NSA), Wickr also offers perks including full end-to-end encryption, centralized message archiving, secure server deletion, and a zero-trust platform design. As for Amazon, it has harbored ambitions of entering the communications service domain for a while now. The company was even rumored to be working on a full-fledged messaging platform called Anytime back in 2017 with a premise similar to that of WhatsApp. As Anytime faded into obscurity, a fresh opportunity appears to have finally arrived.

One of the first secure messaging platforms of its kind, Wickr, will now operate as an AWS service. On the surface, Amazon’s AWS division appears to have gained an opportunity to expand its portfolio and cater to the domain of secure enterprise communication services. Another benefit of acquiring Wickr is the clientele it brings to the table. Wickr is not only used by journalists and folks wary about their privacy, but it is also employed by government agencies, such as the Department of Defense and a host of political associations as well. Not too mention, it also fills a sizeable void in Amazon’s product portfolio.

Wickr Is Amazon’s Entrance To The Messaging App World

While Amazon stands to benefit handsomely from its latest acquisition, not much is expected to change for users. Stephen Schmidt, VP and Chief Information Security Officer for AWS, noted that existing Wickr customers will be able to continue using the platform without worrying about any imminent change in terms of usage or the platform design. However, a few changes might be implemented down the road. For example, once Twitch Prime became Prime Gaming after Amazon acquired the streaming platform, Prime integration was added to the mix. Similarly, AWS customers will now be able to use Wickr’s communication service with immediate effect. It remains to be seen whether Amazon will invest in a bigger Wickr marketing push as a secure communication platform and position it as an in-house rival to the likes of Telegram and Signal, but it is possible.

Interestingly, Business Insider reports that Amazon considered buying Signal before purchasing Wickr. However, it appears that while a huge user base made Signal an appealing prospect, Wickr came with a wider enterprise appeal as well. Either way, and now that a choice has been made, it will be interesting to see how Wickr evolves over time and whether it helps Amazon gain a foothold in the consumer and enterprise communication messaging markets, simultaneously.

Source: Amazon, Business Insider

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