Wickr

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Wickr Inc.
Company type
Private
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FateAcquired by Amazon Web Services
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Headquarters
New York
,
United States
Key people
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  • Joel Wallenstrom (CEO)
  • Chris Lalonde (COO)
  • Chris Howell (CTO)
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Number of employees
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Websitewww.wickr.com

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Wickr was an American software company based in New York City that was acquired by Amazon Web Services (AWS) in mid-2021.[1][2] It was known for its instant messaging applications of the same name. The Wickr messaging service allowed an organization's users (and, optionally, external guests) to exchange end-to-end encrypted and content-expiring messages.

History

Wickr was founded in 2012.[3] Nico Sell served as the company's CEO until May 2015, who then became the co-chairman of Wickr and CEO of Wickr Foundation, a newly launched nonprofit whose seed funding was provided by the company.[4] Mark Fields, who previously led CME's Strategic Investment Group, became the company's CEO.[5] He remained CEO until November 2016 when he was replaced by Joel Wallenstrom, co-founder of iSec Partners, becoming the company's CEO and president.[6][7]

The Wickr Foundation was a nonprofit founded by Wickr founder Nico Sell that operated from 2015-2017.[8][9] The foundation operated a social-impact venture fund with a global mission to advance the Private Web and transform how society uses the Internet.[10]

AWS acquired the company on June 25, 2021.[11][2] AWS stopped accepting new users to Wickr Me on December 31, 2022,[12] and discontinued it on December 31, 2023.[13][14]

Branding

The Wickr name and original logo were created by the Spanish artist Joan Bofill in 2012. In 2016, Daylight Design created a new logo and visual identity for the company.[15]

Products

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Wickr Me
[[Programmer|DeveloperTemplate:Pluralize from text]]Wickr Inc.
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Operating systemWindows, macOS, Ubuntu, iOS, Android
TypeInstant Messaging
LicenseProprietary
Websitewickr.com/me/

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Wickr was known for producing secure messaging software, such as "Wickr Me". Their software received media coverage due to a security issue at a rival messaging company, Snapchat.[16]

In 2015, the Electronic Frontier Foundation gave Wickr a score of 5 out of 7 points on their "Secure Messaging Scorecard".[17] It received points for:

  • Having communications encrypted in transit,
  • Having communications encrypted with keys the provider didn't have access to (end-to-end encryption),
  • Making it possible for users to independently verify their correspondent's identities,
  • Having past communications secure if the keys were stolen (forward secrecy), and having completed a recent independent security audit.

The missing 2 points were due to:

In 2015, Wickr published a white paper outlining the encryption protocol that they use for end-to-end encryption.[18]

In 2015, the Electronic Frontier Foundation announced that Wickr earned four out of five stars in every applicable category for its effort to protect user privacy.[19]

In February 2017, Wickr opened one of its cryptographic protocols for public review on GitHub and published a paper, “The Wickr Messaging Protocol”, as an aid to those who wish to review the source code.[20][21][22]

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". After McKinsey & Company was contracted by the New York State Department of Corrections in 2014, top consultants and prison officers allegedly exchanged project documents over Wickr, keeping the procedure off public oversight and record requests.[23]

Government transparency advocates noted that Maryland Governor Larry Hogan's use of Wickr destroys government records before any determination of whether they should be public can be made, under the Freedom of Information Act and state law.[24]

Funding

In March 2014, Wickr announced its Series A funding round of $9 million led by Gilman Louie of Alsop Louie Partners. The series also included investments from Juniper Networks and the Knight Foundation.[25] Its Series B funding round of $30 million, also announced in 2014, was led by Breyer Capital, including CME Group and Wargaming.[26]

On 12 October 2021, a Vice Motherboard article revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had invested $1.6 million into Wickr via the CIA's venture capital company In-Q-Tel.[27]

Gilman Louie is the former CEO of In-Q-Tel, and other investors, including Richard Clarke and Michael Wertheimer, also have close ties to the U.S. intelligence and national security communities. It is also known that Erik Prince, the founder of the controversial private security firm Blackwater, is one of the principal investors.[28]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.MacMillan, Douglas (June 25, 2014). "A startup looks for business in secrecy". Wall Street Journal.
  2. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."AWS has acquired encrypted messaging service Wickr". TechCrunch. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Perlroth, Nicole (June 27, 2012). "An app that encrypts, shreds, hashes and salts". The New York Times.
  4. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Lunden, Ingrid (May 6, 2015). "Encrypted Chat App Wickr Creates New Non-Profit Arm". TechCrunch.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Perlroth, Nicole (May 6, 2015). "Wickr adds a new chief executive and a nonprofit". The New York Times.
  6. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Pfeifle, Sam (November 6, 2016). "New Wickr CEO looks to build on ephemeral messaging". iapp.org. The International Association of Privacy Professionals. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  7. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Wallenstrom, Joel (November 6, 2016). "Wickr – Making Ephemerality & Encryption a New Norm". wickr.com. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Fried, Ina (May 6, 2015). "Wickr Splits in Two, With Founder Nico Sell to Head New Nonprofit Venture". re/code.
  9. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Wickr Foundation - Nonprofit Explorer". ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. 2026 Pro Publica Inc. Retrieved March 21, 2026.
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Shieber, Jonathan, TechCrunch (May 23, 2016). "Wickr Foundation invests in Whistler, an app dedicated to helping activists and citizen reporters". Retrieved September 23, 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Welch, Carley (April 18, 2025). "Army expands access to encrypted Wickr platform in aim to curb insecure comms, bolster integration". Breaking Defense.
  12. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Roth, Emma (November 19, 2022). "Wickr's free encrypted messaging app is shutting down next year". The Verge. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Roth, Emma (November 19, 2022). "Wickr's free encrypted messaging app is shutting down next year". The Verge. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Cox, Joseph (January 3, 2024). "Wickr Is Dead". 404 Media. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.McLaughlin, Aimee. "Wickr brand identity, by Daylight Design". designweek.co.uk. Centaur Media plc. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Thompson, Cadie (February 6, 2014). "Snapchat rival hopes to pounce on security breach". CNBC.
  17. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Secure Messaging Scorecard. Which apps and tools actually keep your messages safe?". Electronic Frontier Foundation. January 5, 2015. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  18. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Wickr Messaging Protocol" (PDF) (Whitepaper). Wickr Inc. 2015. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  19. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Who Has Your Back". The Electronic Frontier Foundation. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
  20. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Conger, Kate (February 15, 2017). "Encrypted chat app Wickr opens code for public review". TechCrunch.
  21. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Eddy, Max (February 15, 2017). "Wickr Releases Crypto Protocol on GitHub". PCMag.
  22. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Wallenstrom, Joel (February 15, 2017). "Wickr's Core Crypto Goes Public". Wickr Blog.
  23. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.MacDougall, Ian (December 10, 2019). "New York City Paid McKinsey Millions to Stem Jail Violence. Instead, Violence Soared". ProPublica. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
  24. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Md. Gov. Larry Hogan's messages to state employees self-destruct in 24 hours". The Washington Post.
  25. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Fried, Ina (March 3, 2014). "Wickr secures $9 million to fund its privacy-focused messaging service". Recode.
  26. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Finkle, Jim (June 26, 2014). "Wickr raises $30 million; investors include CME Group, Wargaming". Reuters.
  27. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."CIA Funding Arm Gave Encrypted App Wickr $1.6 Million - VICE". Vice.com. October 12, 2021. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
  28. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Winter, Jana; Groll, Elias (September 14, 2017). "Why Is Erik Prince Backing a Secure Communications Company?". Foreign Policy. Retrieved October 26, 2021.

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