Cloud backup is a competitive industry and it appears that Cyphertite is the latest to decide it needs to close down. The email from Cyphertite mentions that they have not been able to generate enough revenue to keep the doors open. At least they are giving users two months notice before closing so users can find alternative services.
Below is the email I received from Cyphertite regarding this closure.
Dear Cyphertite User,
It is with a heavy heart that I am announcing the coming closure of the Cyphertite online backup service in 2 months’ time, on August 18th, 2023.
Due to limited interest in Cyphertite, we were not able to generate enough revenue to justify continuing to operate the service. In an attempt to make transition away from using the Cyphertite service less painful for existing users, we are giving a 2 month notice that the service is ending. In some cases, this means you simply need to find another online backup service and make the initial backup there before discontinuing use of Cyphertite. In other cases, the migration process away from Cyphertite may be more involved, e.g. you need to restore some data before the service closes. I suggest you start thinking about finding a replacement for Cyphertite sooner rather than later, as in “have a proper backup at another backup provider before August 18th”.
It has been a pleasure to serve all of our customers over the past several years. We feel very strongly that everyone, not just select groups, should have access to secure data storage tools as a matter of personal privacy. As such, we truly appreciate everyone who joined us in asserting their right to online data privacy. Since we are closing Cyphertite, some customers may be left wondering “Well, great… what now? I have to find a new secure online backup service.” so I figured a few suggestions for alternatives would be helpful:
Windows users – For our existing windows users, we recommend
SpiderOak – https://spideroak.comLinux/UNIX/OSX users – For all our command line people, we
recommend Tarsnap – https://www.tarsnap.comDespite shuttering Cyphertite in the near future, we will continue to have a presence in the data security software space, albeit via a new company, Company 0 LLC (https://companyzero.com). In the next few months we will be making an announcement regarding a new project that may be of interest to existing Cyphertite users, so stay tuned.
Sincerely,
Jacob Yocom-Piatt
CEO
Conformal Systems, LLC.
Cyphertite was unique for a couple of reasons. They offered a zero-knowledge service and they ran on Linux and Unix as well as Windows. Surprisingly they did not run on Apple. Them recommending moving to SpiderOak is no surprise, but a few other options for Linux users might also be CrashPlan or possibly AltDrive.
Windows users have many more options and I would look for services that allow you to set your own encryption key. A few Windows services that allow you to use a private encryption key that come to mind off the top of my head include:
- IDrive
- Carbonite
- Backblaze
- Mozy
And of course the already mentioned
Always a tough time when companies decide to close, but it will be interesting to see what they have in mind with their new company, Company 0.
Are you a Cyphertite user? Where will you be moving your cloud backup too?
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