After many years of development I have decided to withdraw AES Crypter Vault, AES Crypter Professional and AES Crypter Lite. As of today the applications can no longer be downloaded from my website, from the Microsoft Store or from any other official channel. It was not an easy decision, and I believe I owe a clear explanation to everyone who has used them.
Software becomes a “product”. From 9 December 2026, Directive (EU) 2024/2853 on liability for defective products applies; Italy has transposed it with the decree given final approval by the Council of Ministers on 28 October 2026. For the first time software is treated like a physical object: whoever develops it is liable for it like the manufacturer of a household appliance, with strict liability, that is, regardless of fault. And the loss or corruption of data is now among the damages that can be claimed.
An encryption program is the extreme case. A tool like mine has a single purpose: to make data unreadable to anyone who does not have the password. For exactly this reason, any malfunction (a damaged file, a bug in a library, an incompatibility between versions) does not cause a mere inconvenience, but unrecoverable data. For encryption software, data loss is not a rare accident: it is the natural way it fails.
The rules apply to everyone, but they do not weigh on everyone equally. A large company has a legal department, product liability insurance, a structured vulnerability management process and a budget that can absorb a lawsuit. I am a single freelance developer: one lawsuit, even an unfounded one, could cost me more than the software has ever earned me.
I know that the law does not turn every bug into compensation: there must be a defect, damage and a causal link between the two, and some grounds for exemption remain. But the new rules introduce presumptions in favour of the injured party and obligations to disclose evidence, and provide that a known and uncorrected vulnerability can make a product defective even years after it was distributed. For someone working alone, this means an obligation to provide security maintenance with no clear end date, and the risk of having to prove in court that everything possible was done.
Open source is not a way out. The directive excludes free and open-source software, but only when it is developed or supplied outside a commercial activity. Even releasing AES Crypter for free or publishing its source code would not protect me with certainty. When in doubt, the only prudent choice is to stop distributing it.
A protection that reduces choice. I do not dispute the goal of protecting consumers. I dispute the practical effect: independent tools, maintained for years by individual developers, disappear, and only the big players’ market remains. Users will not get more security, they will get fewer alternatives. A rule of this scope should truly distinguish between those who place millions of devices on the market and those who distribute a program from a personal website. In practice, this one does not do so enough.
If you already use AES Crypter. Copies already installed keep working, but I will not release any further updates. Keep the installer you have, and check that you are able to decrypt your .aes files. If you plan to move to another tool, first decrypt your files with AES Crypter, encrypt them again with the new program, and delete the original encrypted files only after checking that everything is readable.
I thank everyone who, over these years, has used it, reported problems and suggested improvements. I am sorry to end it this way.
Marco Rivola
November 2026
Experience industrial-grade protection and compression features through Aes Crypter Vault's user-friendly interface.
Why Aes Crypter is no longer available
Aes Crypter Vault provides advanced encryption and secure digest computation using world-class block cipher algorithms. Designed for professionals, it ensures uncompromising data protection across all Windows platforms.
Experience blazing-fast processing with built-in multithreading, chunk-based optimization, and asynchronous file writing. Aes Crypter Vault is engineered for speed—even on large files—without sacrificing performance
Simple to use yet incredibly powerful: just drag and drop your files. Whether you're encrypting or compressing, Vault handles everything seamlessly with minimal system resource usage.
Built in C++23 and powered by Intel TBB, Aes Crypter Vault combines robust encryption, configurable pipelines, and high-speed I/O into one compact tool. Performance and reliability, redefined.
