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Forum Discussion
Dropbox acquires Boxcryptor. What will happen to all those files that have been encrypted?
Hi
As most will know, dropbox has purchased boxcryptor.
At this point my question is, what will happen to all those files that have been encrypted with boxcryptor ? Should they all be decrypted and wait for communication on how the transaction will be handled by Dropbox ?
Boxcryptor was used to encrypt files using other cloud services, will this change ?
Thank you very much
Riccardo
riccardo1981 wrote:
At this point my question is, what will happen to all those files that have been encrypted with boxcryptor ?
Since this is such a new development, such answers are likely not available yet, beyond what has been stated by the Boxcryptor founders (emphasis mine).
What does this mean for our users and customers?
First of all: All our existing users and customers will remain with the German Secomba GmbH with the same shareholders as during the past 10 years. No contracts, customer data or keys will migrate to Dropbox, all data will remain in our German data centers.
While we’ve sold several key technology assets to Dropbox, we will continue to service our existing users and customers pursuant to the terms of their existing contracts. However, as of today, we will not allow the creation of new accounts or purchases of any new licenses.
If you’re an existing customer, you can keep using Boxcryptor as you do today, and we’ll be in touch with more details as we join forces with Dropbox. If you’re new here and would like to stay up to date on Dropbox’s progress, join the Dropbox mailing list.
You will also find the most important FAQs regarding the next steps below.
As a Boxcryptor user for 6 years I'm confused about the strategy here as well. Why do we need to decrypt all our files first and then wait for Dropbox to re-integrate the capability? It would have been great if we could have kept all our files just as they were, and have the encryption service just transfer seamlessly into the Dropbox ecosystem. As it stands now, we are saying goodbye permanently to Boxcryptor and completely disengaging from it, and then hoping that at some day in the future a similar kind of service comes back from within Dropbox. I will miss Boxcryptor very much.
As Dropbox has acquired Boxcryptor (https://blog.dropbox.com/topics/company/dropbox-to-acquire-boxcryptor-assets-bring-end-to-end-encryption-to-business-users) with its full end-to-end encryption, I would like to know how this solution will be offered to the Dropbox users.
I have been a Boxcryptor user for more than ten years and am using Boxcryptor end-to-end encryption "on top" of my Dropbox files and folders.
How will Dropbox offer the acquired Boxcryptor technology and real end-to-end encryption to its users?Boxcryptor / "Secomba GmbH i.L." acquired by Dropbox
Does anyone have any idea when Dropbox is going to provide any updated information regarding they acquired "Key Assets" from Boxcryptor back in December 2022. Since then all of us loyal Boxycryptor users that counted on the ZERO Knowledge base encryption have been kicked to the curb, both by Secomba GmbH i.L., and by Dropbox. It has now been 12-months since Secomba GmbH i.L sold all of us loyal user out for a quick money grab and nothing but crickets from Dropbox on this topic. I would have expected Dropbox to be concerned with upsetting its customer-base so bad that we will never continue using there services even after or if they get there act together and actually provide the embedded version of ZERO Knowledge Encryption they acquired.
It remains a mystery why Secomba and Dropbox were so amateurish with the merger. They have completely ruined their image and no matter what products and plans they come up with in the future, I will never trust such amateurs again. I'm meanwhile used to and happy with my new structures and solutions.
apfundDropbox Product Manager
Hi andrewfrey and Steve-IR ,
my team is working on implementing end-to-end encryption natively in our Dropbox product.
As mentioned before, we are starting to onboard first early access customers next week and plan to release the feature in April 2024.
Concerning the eligibility of customers, our primary focus is on catering to the needs of business customers through this solution. Unfortunately, at this point in time, I'm unable to share more details. But I'll keep you in the loop.
Thank you for your understanding and patience.
Good morning,
When will we be able to encrypt data in Dropbox with Boxcryptor?
My question is it possible to encrypt data directly in Dropbox with Boxcryptor. So currently there is still no certain date..
- Rich
Super User II
riccardo1981 wrote:
At this point my question is, what will happen to all those files that have been encrypted with boxcryptor ?
Since this is such a new development, such answers are likely not available yet, beyond what has been stated by the Boxcryptor founders (emphasis mine).
What does this mean for our users and customers?
First of all: All our existing users and customers will remain with the German Secomba GmbH with the same shareholders as during the past 10 years. No contracts, customer data or keys will migrate to Dropbox, all data will remain in our German data centers.
While we’ve sold several key technology assets to Dropbox, we will continue to service our existing users and customers pursuant to the terms of their existing contracts. However, as of today, we will not allow the creation of new accounts or purchases of any new licenses.
If you’re an existing customer, you can keep using Boxcryptor as you do today, and we’ll be in touch with more details as we join forces with Dropbox. If you’re new here and would like to stay up to date on Dropbox’s progress, join the Dropbox mailing list.
You will also find the most important FAQs regarding the next steps below.
Hi,
Thank you for your answer... but...
i am already a boxcryptor customer but until 23.12 license expiration date. at that point what happens ? The software will stop working and I will no longer be able to decrypt my files, which by the way are on multiple cloud providersI found the answer
https://www.boxcryptor.com/it/blog/post/boxcryptor-and-dropbox-user-info/
yes i need to decrypt all files before my license expire ..what a mess
We have a subscription to Boxcrypter. We understand that Boxcrypter will be ADDED by Dropbox to Business. What about paid NON-Business users? Once our subscription to Boxcrypter comes to an end, We NEED encryption that is available on our MACs, iPads and IPhones.
- apfund
The current status is, that the first version of our native end-to-end encryption implementation will be offered to our business customers.
I will certainly share your comments and suggestions with our team, and we appreciate your feedback.
Additionally, I understand the importance of clear communication and messaging, and I will take this feedback into consideration as well, as we continue to refine our approach. Thank you again for your valuable input.
can we use a local boxcryptor account on a windows PC?
If yes, how please
Marc
- First question: did you download your key from BC website before your free online acount was closed? If yes, you shall use it when you chose the option in your local BC app to proceed with a local account. That alternative option appears at login. If you don't have your key you won't be able to decrypt your files anymore.
That is my question too. i havent been able to get any answers from dropbox. Hopefully someone here can help. i want to continue using an encryption service when transferring files to and from dropbox
Wow, now this is a surprise. I was just looking for what local-encryption options were available, and saw this news. Immediately upon seeing that Dropbox bought out Boxcryptor, that was when Boxcryptor dropped right *OFF* my list of services to consider.
Back when I installed both Dropbox and Boxcryptor on my then new Windows 10 computer,
Dropbox ended up as a directory under Boxcryptor. And Boxcryptor installed itself as a separate
Drive (with letter) an the computer.
Now that my Boxcryptor is ending my subscription, I have de-crypted and moved all the files.
Including some also linking with third-party apps.
Boxcryptor is also telling me that it--the app--and its filles are going to be locked at the end sub date.
My question--Does this mean that the drive (with letter) is going to end up locked, too. Like I'll lose '
that drive (with letter)? And Dropbox that is under that drive (with letter) called "Boxcryptor"?
- Walter
Dropbox Staff
Hi PitchCascadia , since your query seems to echo the OP here, I merged your post under this thread.
Feel free to have a look and let us know if you have any follow up questions.
- apfund
Hi PitchCascadia ,
Thanks for reaching out!
The boxcryptor drive letter is a virtual drive that gives you a plaintext view on your Dropbox files. Once you remove the boxcryptor software from your computer, the letter will be available again and you will find your regular Dropbox files within the regular Dropbox folder (not under the X: drive).
For any further questions regarding boxcryptor, please reach out directly to the boxcryptor team.
Thank you!
Thanks for making that clear.
Dropbox help is good help.
Hello, I have wanted to use Dropbox for about four months. I like the offering, but my only issue is that it doesn't come with E2EE. The acquisition of Boxcryptor last year was meant to have resolved this with this being offered to business users.
Is there any update on this? I will be a paid user when this happens.
- apfund
Hi UnicormPink , we will start to onboard first early access customers to our native end-to-end encryption implementation. We plan to release the public version in April next year.
Thank you for your patience!You mentioned earlier in this thread that encryption is only going to be available to “business” customers. Does that include your “Essentials” plans or is this limited to what is actually named “Business” accounts (that have a 3 user minimum)? I’m willing to stick around for awhile and wait for an Essentials add-on but an upgrade to Business makes no sense for individuals - especially given that there are cloud providers that offer zero knowledge encryption right out of the box (i.e. sync.com)?
- Hi Riccardo, I'm not sure what Dropbox's plans are for BoxCryptor, but I would recommend reaching out to their customer support team for more information. In the meantime, it may be a good idea to decrypt your files and make backups just in case. As for encryption with other cloud services, it's hard to say whether or not that will change until we hear more about Dropbox's plans.
UnicormPink
Dropbox's plans were just explained here again by apfund .i.e. that Boxcryptor will no longer be available as stand-alone solution (for other cloud services) but its technology will be used to implement a native E2E encryption into paid Dropbox packages.
As mentioned here earlier and in at least one more thread, it is not necessary to decrypt your files if you have downloaded your private key from your Boxcryptor account. You can do the decryption offline(!) at any later time when needed.
Tomachi
What do you mean by "...unable to recover...". Could you please provide more details? Do you mean that you could not decrypt the files or what?
