Skip Navigation
Markets
Business
Investing
Tech
Politics
Video
Watchlist
Investing Club
PRO
Livestream
Menu
Key Points
Amazon Web Services has acquired Wickr, a popular secure messaging platform, the company announced Friday.
It comes as Amazon's cloud-computing unit looks to pick up more government business.
Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon Web Services, speaks during the WSJDLive Global Technology Conference in Laguna Beach, California, on October 25, 2016
Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Amazon
's cloud-computing business has acquired Wickr, an encrypted messaging platform used by government agencies and enterprises, the company
announced Friday
. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.
The announcement comes as Amazon Web Services looks to pick up more government business. AWS
has been locked
in a protracted legal battle with
Microsoft
over the Pentagon's multibillion-dollar cloud deal. Thousands of government agencies use Amazon's cloud-computing services.
In a blog post
, Stephen Schmidt, vice president and chief information security officer for AWS, said the need for secure communications services like those offered by Wickr has accelerated as the Covid-19 pandemic pushed many to adopt hybrid work environments.
"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," Schmidt said.
A notice posted to
Wickr's website
confirmed the acquisition: "From our founding ten years ago, we have grown to serve organizations across a wide range of industries, all over the world. Together with AWS, we look forward to taking our solutions to the next level for our customers and partners."
Wickr offers an app that's free to the public, along with a paid service geared toward supporting military communications.
The San Francisco-based start-up counts the Department of Defense as one of its customers.
Vice
reported in April that U.S. Customs and Border Protection purchased Wickr licenses. Wickr also bills itself as the "only collaboration service with full functionality to meet all security criteria outlined by the National Security Agency."
watch now
VIDEO
0:00
00:00
Andy Jassy set to inherit Amazon's antitrust scrutiny, regulatory risk
Tech
Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.