Software King of the “World Microsoft has just kneecapped VeraCrypt.
Vole has terminated the account used to sign its Windows drivers and bootloader, leaving Windows updates dead in the water.
For those not in the know. VeraCrypt is an open-source toolkit for encrypting data at rest, allowing users to create encrypted partitions or standalone volumes for files. Like its TrueCrypt ancestor, it can hide a second, innocent-looking volume for when someone leans on you.
VeraCrypt developer Mounir Idrassi told 404 Media: “I didn’t receive any emails from Microsoft nor any prior warnings. The shutdown hit in mid-January, and I only found out when the account stopped working.”
Idrassi resurfaced on the SourceForge forums after a few months away and pointed to the mess as the main problem. The most serious challenge, he wrote, “is that Microsoft terminated the account I have used for years to sign Windows drivers and the bootloader.”
“Regarding VeraCrypt, I cannot publish Windows updates. Linux and macOS updates can still be delivered, but Windows is used by the majority of users, so the inability to deliver Windows releases is a major blow to the project. Currently, I’m out of options.”
Idrassi said, “I was surprised to discover that I could no longer use my account.”
The only message he links to the closure reads: “Based on the information you have provided to date, we have determined that your organisation does not currently meet the requirements to pass verification. There are no appeals available; we have closed your application.”
Idrassi says the note relates to his company IDRIX, and it makes little sense to him.
“As you can read in their message, they say that the organisation (IDRIX) doesn’t meet their requirements, but I don’t see which requirement IDRIX suddenly stopped meeting,” he said.
He claims Microsoft support has been a brick wall, with automated replies that look like AI-written filler, which is a lovely way to run trust and verification for security tooling.
