TrueCrypt has closed its doors, deleted all available downloads and forwarded users to a competitor. The only reason cited was the end of life of Windows XP. However, the users of the app, which allowed encrypting entire hard drives in order to ensure security and privacy, can’t understand why the application and its development would cease so suddenly.

The app’s websites reads: “The development of TrueCrypt was ended in 5/2014 after Microsoft terminated support of Windows XP”. The developers also point out that other operating systems from Microsoft offer integrated support for encrypted disks and virtual disk images, and recommend to migrate any data encrypted by their app to encrypted disks or virtual disk images supported by the OS the user runs now.

The problem is that many users are reluctant to hand control of their security over to Microsoft. They can be understood – unlike the software giant, the cryptography community offered open-source software, where the code can be checked by anyone and is therefore inherently more secure. Many people also simply don’t trust Microsoft.

However, the date of termination of support for XP has been known for years, so it was definitely no sense to abruptly shut down the encrypting app without any warning. Now it is hard to find out the real reason for shutdown, because the TrueCrypt team has always remained anonymous. Only the rumors left after the app closure.

One suggestion is that the shutdown is sort of a “warrant canary” – a legal trick employed by conscientious entities to get around the fact that certain demands from the American government can’t be disclosed publicly. To tackle this problem, “canaries” are used: for instance, if one transparency report says that the company has never received a demand from the government, but later versions of the report don’t contain that phrase, you can draw a conclusion that such a demand was received between the two reports. In other words, it’s a hint that smart people can see and understand – without company making any official disclosures. In case TrueCrypt had received a demand it didn’t want to comply with, shutting down and warning users away from the software is one way to fight back.

Another suggestion is that the app had a dramatic flaw and the developers preferred to shutdown entirely before it got discovered by someone else. In any case, it seems that it’s better to do what the developers tell you.