NordVPN: Difference between revisions

'''{{wplink|NordVPN}}''' is a {{wplink|virtual private network}} (VPN) service provider owned by Nord Security. NordVPN heavily advertises their products on popular YouTube channels. NordVPN operates worldwide, with offices in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Poland, Germany, the United States, Lithuania, Switzerland, and Panama.

==Consumer-impact summary==

*'''User freedom:''' A class action lawsuit was proposed accusing NordVPN of unlawful subscription renewal practices.

*'''User privacy:''' Internet traffic that exits the US border is subject to interception by US intelligence agencies (not limited to NordVPN); tracking services have been found within NordVPN's mobile app; has suffered a breach of one of their data centers that was only disclosed more than a year after the incident.

*'''Market competition:''' Plenty of popular brands (i.e. [https://protonvpn.com/ ProtonVPN], [https://mullvad.net/en Mullvad], ...).

==Incidents==

===Subscription Renewal Practices===

===Privacy concerns===

Due to current laws, United States intelligence agencies are prohibited from spying on American citizens' communications, including internet traffic (with some expanding exceptions).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA) |url=https://bja.ojp.gov/program/it/privacy-civil-liberties/authorities/statutes/1285 |url-status=live |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=Office of Justice Programs |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260124102522/https://bja.ojp.gov/program/it/privacy-civil-liberties/authorities/statutes/1285 |archive-date=24 Jan 2026}}</ref> However, internet traffic that exits the country is legally subject to interception and decryption. This includes VPN providers that route traffic outside the United States. As a result, using a VPN may inadvertently expose users to surveillance by U.S. intelligence agencies. No international VPN providers disclose this risk to their customers. It is entirely legal for U.S. intelligence agencies to break encryption, perform man-in-the-middle attacks, or employ other methods to weaken encryption on data crossing international borders.

If data passes international borders it is subject to "bulk collection" by the Intelligence Community because of Executive Order 12333.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Goitein |first=Elizabeth |date=2022-02-15 |title=How the CIA Is Acting Outside the Law to Spy on Americans |url=https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/how-cia-acting-outside-law-spy-americans |url-status=live |access-date=2025-03-26 |website=Brennan Center |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251210020204/https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/how-cia-acting-outside-law-spy-americans |archive-date=10 Dec 2025}}</ref>

An analysis by German privacy blogger and activist Mike Kuketz found third party tracking services embedded into the apps of five different VPN services, including three in NordVPN's app (AppsFlyer, Google Crashlytics, and Google Firebase Analytics).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kuketz |first=Mike |date=2025-09-29 |title=VPN-Apps: Wenn »Sicherheits-Apps« selbst zum Risiko werden [VPN-Apps: When "Security-Apps" themselves become a risk] |url=https://www.kuketz-blog.de/vpn-apps-wenn-sicherheits-apps-selbst-zum-risiko-werden/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://megalodon.jp/2026-0408-0210-36/https://www.kuketz-blog.de:443/vpn-apps-wenn-sicherheits-apps-selbst-zum-risiko-werden/ |archive-date=7 Apr 2026 |access-date=2025-10-27 |website=Kuketz IT-Security}}</ref>

When confronted with the allegations, NordVPN denied the allegations, answering with statements about the website instead of the smarphone app. Kuketz then conducted his own in-depth analysis of the app's traffic (his initial analysis was based on data from the [https://exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/ Exodus Privacy Project]), revealing that at least two of the trackers were indeed present.

Confronted with the results, the company spoke of a "misunderstanding", which Kuketz describes as "not very convincing".

He further notes that NordVPN's PR manager is using a NordVPN e-mail address which is hosted by Google, meaning any e-mail communication with the company over the same channels would be fully exposed to the advertising giant's data collection.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kuketz |first=Mike |date=2025-10-20 |title=NordVPN bestreitet den Einsatz von Trackern – Doch ein App-Mitschnitt zeigt ein anderes Bild [NordVPN denies use of trackers – but an analysis of the app's traffic paints a different picture] |url=https://www.kuketz-blog.de/nordvpn-bestreitet-den-einsatz-von-trackern-doch-ein-app-mitschnitt-zeigt-ein-anderes-bild/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://megalodon.jp/2026-0408-0210-39/https://www.kuketz-blog.de:443/nordvpn-bestreitet-den-einsatz-von-trackern-doch-ein-app-mitschnitt-zeigt-ein-anderes-bild/ |archive-date=7 Apr 2026 |access-date=2025-10-27 |website=Kuketz IT-Security}}</ref>

===Data center breach===

In March 2018 one of NordVPN's third party servers located in Finland was breached. According to official accounts<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2019-10-21 |title=Why the NordVPN network is safe after a third-party provider breach |url=https://nordvpn.com/blog/official-response-datacenter-breach/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://megalodon.jp/2026-0408-0206-55/https://nordvpn.com:443/blog/official-response-datacenter-breach/ |archive-date=7 Apr 2026 |access-date=2026-02-22 |website=NordVPN}}</ref> the attacker gained access to the server thanks to poor management on the data center part, which shortly after patched the issue but failed to make NordVPN aware of the breach until April 13, 2018.

No sensitive user data was stolen, but the attacker did get access to TLS keys which ''"under extraordinary circumstances, could be used to attack a single user on the web using a specifically targeted and highly sophisticated MITM attack"''.<ref name=":0" />  Said TLS keys were made public by the attacker on the website 8chan together with information relating to breaches of other VPN providers such as TorGuard and VikingVPN.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-10-23 |title=NordVPN Hack – Everything You Need to Know |url=https://cyberinsider.com/nordvpn-hack/ |access-date=2026-02-22 |website=Cyber Insider |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260131112151/https://cyberinsider.com/nordvpn-hack/ |archive-date=31 Jan 2026}}</ref>

NordVPN released an official statement more than a year later, only after a researcher on [https://x.com/ X] revealed that NordVPN ''"was compromised at some point"''.<ref>{{Cite web |first= |date=2019-10-20 |title=So apparently NordVPN was compromised at some point |url=https://nitter.catsarch.com/hexdefined/status/1185864801261477891 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260407180621/https://nitter.catsarch.com/hexdefined/status/1185864801261477891 |archive-date=7 Apr 2026 |access-date=2026-02-22 |website=x.com}}</ref> This was followed by significant turmoil within the community, as individuals remained uninformed for all of this time. According to NordVPN, the delay was justified by an internal audit they were executing of all of their servers which they wanted to complete before notifying the public, making sure that the attack could not be replicated.<ref name=":0" />

NordVPN has since taken down the affected server and terminated the contract with the data center. A security plan was later announced as well.<ref>{{Cite web |first= |date=2019-10-26 |title=How NordVPN will become more secure than ever |url=https://nordvpn.com/blog/security-plan/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://megalodon.jp/2026-0408-0209-06/https://nordvpn.com:443/blog/security-plan/ |archive-date=7 Apr 2026 |access-date=2026-02-22 |website=NordVPN}}</ref>

[[Category:NordVPN]]