Gemalto cloud storage service YuuWaa leaves its users feeling grounded after sudden termination of services.
An unexpected warning from YuuWaa’s website
If you own SanDisk USB thumbdrives, when you login to Secure Access, you may see a popup window like this:
We are sorry. YuuWaa as come to an end. We hope you enjoyed the service!
Perhaps you didn’t know it, but your newer SanDisk USB drive came bundled from the factory with the YuuWaa service, a program which facilitated actively synching files stored and shared via the internet and handheld devices. Launched in 2009 by French data security corporation Gemalto and licensed by SanDisk in 2011, the service was seen at the time as a key differentiator in the SanDisk USB drive product line.
As of January 4, 2014 the future of that service is in question. Users of SanDisk’s Secure Access program are now greeted with a new popup window linked to YuuWaa’s website, advising them the service “as[sic] come to an end.”, prompting SanDisk Forum user ZAR to quip that YuuWaa is now your data’s “ex-best friend.”  YuuWaa’s wikipedia article notes that this is not the first time the service has gone offline unexpectedly. The last disruption occurred on January 11, 2013. In that case the service posted a message advising visitors of maintenance work. The site became available again 3 days later, with no explanation as to the cause of the outage.
Users of the service have found the current announcement on the YuuWaa website puzzlingly brief and questions remain regarding the poor grammar used, fueling suspicions that the service may have been the latest victim of hacking. Unfortunately, there’s no way to confirm that data stored in their cloud is secure, as emails sent to both companies have gone unanswered.
Like always, updates will be provided as they become available.
Users are encouraged to leave feedback in the Comments section.
Update: Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014 – In an emailed statement, Nicole Smith from Gemalto had this to say about the service:
“During the fall of 2013 all subscribers of YuuWaa have been informed, that YuuWaa will be stopped before end of year 2013. For premium customers we have offered to repay the remaining balance of their account. YuuWaa has been officially shutdown end of December.”
