NordVPN Gets Audited by PwC Switzerland for the Second Time!

NordVPN has been the talk of the town lately, due to them rolling out a new technology, NordLynx  built around the WireGuard protocol, considered to be “the future industry standard”. Adding to this, the provider has even been audited the second time in a row by PwC Switzerland.

The first report released back in November 2018, was a huge feat for the provider. NordVPN set itself apart from the competition by being the first to engage one of the big four audit firms – PricewaterhouseCoopers AG Switzerland (PwC Switzerland) to evaluate their no-logs claims.

Now, NordVPN has asked PwC Switzerland to conduct an even broader analysis of their service. The report was officially released in May 2020, and goes in-depth into the assurance engagement of their product. Below we discuss the details on how NordVPN was examined in the report:

How was NordVPN Examined by PwC Switzerland

• The audit included a thorough analysis of NordVPN by conducting technical log inspections, server configuration inspections, and interviews with their employees. The practitioners at PwC Switzerland also verified whether the service was actually using the configurations they had inspected, further ensuring the safety of NordVPN.
• Since the second audit is aimed to be broader than previous requests, PwC expanded the scope of their analysis by including numerous specialized server types that had not been tested in the previous audit. This included P2P, Double VPN, and even the Obfuscated servers offered by the provider for bypassing VPN bans.
• This assurance engagement conducted is actually a “Point in Time Assessment (PITA)”. As such, the practitioners from PwC Switzerland only reported on what they experienced and analyzed, after being granted access to NordVPN’s servers. The process took a good 8-days to complete, starting from May 20th and ending by the 28th, 2020.
• During this specific time where PwC Switzerland had access to NordVPN and its services, it concluded that no signs were found in any aspect that could violate the no-logs claim and promise by the service. Notably, NordVPN’s commitment to not keeping logs was affirmed through rigorous examination. Users can review the comprehensive report on NordVPN’s website by logging into their accounts for detailed insights.

Why Did NordVPN Conduct a Second Audit?

As we move into a more digitally-reliant world with new cybersecurity risks knocking at the doors, VPNs tend to be a one-stop solution to protecting and anonymizing your activities, while at the same time offering you the ability to bypass geographical and content limitations.

As such, when users connect to a VPN service, they trust the service is providing them with the appropriate security and privacy needs to avoid the prying eyes of government agencies, copyright infringement hunters, and cybercriminals. Building this trust is not an easy task.

Therefore, by engaging with one of the big four auditing firms like PwC Switzerland, NordVPN assures users that they take their no-logs claims very seriously. And by acing it for the second-time in a row, they guarantee you can trust them for keeping your identity secure.

How To Access the May 2020 Audit Report

1. Visit the NordVPN official website and click on the “Log in” button.
2. Enter your username and password into the empty fields.
3. You will now be redirected to the NordVPN dashboard.
4. Scroll to the bottom and you’ll find two reports available.
5. Tap on the “View Report” button with the date “May 2020”.
6. You will now be redirected to the “Agreement” page.
7. Click on the “Agree and Proceed” button after reading the terms.
8. The audit report will open up which discusses all details of the analysis.
   

Wrapping Things Up

NordVPN’s commitment to strong security and privacy is what urges users to trust in them, but this second audit is not the end of that process. The provider is determined to conduct even more examinations and reporting in the future to constantly offer third-party, no-logs verification. If you want to test the provider, you can learn how to get your NordVPN free trial.