ProtonVPN: Security at the Software and Hardware Level

You don’t have to look things up on dozens of websites to get what you need. Several.com brings you comprehensive yet fast-digested information. The VPN we chose is ProtonVPN; you probably have heard about it before, especially when the name calls for their earlier product "ProtonMail".

The company's services include a free private email and reliable VPN, which gets more global every day, with more than 1,059 servers in 54 countries around the globe.

ProtonVPN is a Swiss cybersecurity company with its headquarters in Switzerland. It started with the first product, "ProtonMail" in 2014 to provide decent privacy for internet users in general, especially people at-risk, including journalists and democracy activists. The application had great popularity in no time, and now it is available for users worldwide.

The email is safe and ensures that your data, emails, and accounts are unreachable for intruders and third parties. One more amazing thing is the fact that their code is open source, making it available and free for everyone. 

ProtonMail came to the world of privacy with steady steps; it uses end-to-end encryption, which leaves nothing behind for third parties. Creating your email does not require personal information, and you can be linked to an anonymous email account.
 

ProtonVPN Launches VPN

Three years later, the company launched ProtonVPN. After one year of development and four months of testing, the team of ProtonMail has brought ProtonVPN to the public. Online freedom also means zero limits to your online activity. Therefore, ProtonVPN puts down the walls that stand between you and your constrained online content.

ProtonVPN has a no-logs policy that leaves no data on their servers to be saved or stolen. It has a free VPN version with servers in the US, Netherlands, and Japan that connect to one device. Users need to upgrade to paid subscriptions for more devices, which offer more than 1,059 servers in 54 countries worldwide. You can also protect up to 10 devices at the same time.
 

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This section checks how ProtonVPN fares against its competitors regarding speed tests, number of servers, geographic distribution, and their fastest available protocol.

1. Speed tests

All ProtonVPN servers have at minimum 1 Gbps bandwidth, and many of their servers also use 10 Gbps connections. That's so promising, but what about the speed tests? Users of ProtonVPN were amazed by how fast ProtonVPN worked in different locations at a fairly consistent speed. Using ProtonVPN's Secure Core could slow your connection down but not to a bothering extent.

2. Number of servers and geographic distribution

Short explanation: ProtonVPN has more than 1,059 servers in 54 countries worldwide.

Long explanation: A VPN that provides a large number of servers with good distribution is more likely to be faster and more effective when it comes to streaming and bypassing geo-restrictions. More servers mean less traffic on the same server and faster connection for all users.

3. Fastest available protocol

Short Explanation: IKEv2 is the fastest available protocol by ProtonVPN (recommended to use).

Long Explanation: Many aspects depend on a protocol's type. In terms of privacy, OpenVPN and WireGuard are highly recommended and pretty safe to use. In terms of speed, the PPTP protocol is very fast but less secure than other protocols. It all depends on what you prioritize and need.

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ProtonVPN promises to provide security at both the hardware and software levels. Let's find out what it offers to maintain high privacy and security:

1. Encryption and protocols

Your traffic is encrypted using AES-256 encryption, the key change is done with 4096-bit RSA, and HMAC with SHA384 is used for message authentication. It is such a comfort to know that what you do online can't be seen or reached by third parties. Another feature related to this one is the "Forward Secrecy"; if you got lost on this, allow us to explain.

ProtonVPN attentively picks encryption cipher suites to ensure that your encrypted traffic can't be collected and decrypted by a third party. ProtonVPN changes the encryption key with each new connection, and the encryption key, as a result, is never used for more than one session.

ProtonVPN announced a new feature in 2020, the "Full-Desk Encryption"; this feature prevents attacks, especially those that can come from high-risk countries. Such attacks could be made by governments and agencies.

Similar attacks include man-in-the-middle attacks (MITM), which means the attacker takes place in the connection between the user and the server they use, which puts the attacker directly in connection with the victimized user. As a result, the attacker can reach and use all messages, conversations, online activity, web browsing, and more information.

Full disk encryption secures server certificates and all other configurations and software stored on an existing server. So even if the server is somehow reached, data stored on it won't be reachable.

Pro mode: Some protocols cost less to operate, like PPTP and L2TP/IPSec, but ProtonVPN servers do not use any out of the list. Instead, it uses only protocols known to be secure like IKEv2/IPSec and OpenVPN, which ensures that your traffic goes through a secure tunnel.

 

2. ProtonVPN logs policy

Short explanation: ProtonVPN has a no-log policy.

Long explanation: ProtonVPN is supported by Swiss law, which does not obligate certain logging on specific users. According to the same laws, VPN providers are obligated not to save any connection logs under any circumstances. The good news is that the no-log policy applies to all users, even those who use the free version of ProtonVPN.

3. ProtonVPN kill switch

Short explanation: ProtonVPN has a fully functioning kill switch feature.

Long explanation: When you lose connection to your VPN server, the kill switch feature in ProtonVPN stops your internet connection to prevent any leaks, finds another VPN server for you automatically, and re-establishes a connection in no time with the Always-On-VPN feature.

4. ProtonVPN RAM-based servers

Short explanation: ProtonVPN doesn't have RAM-based servers.

Long explanation: A RAM-based server means that the data, instead of being saved to SSD drives, is saved on RAMs. This is advantageous to security because RAMs are wiped clean every time the servers reboot.
 

5. Based country

Short explanation: ProtonVPN is based in Switzerland.

Long explanation: ProtonVPN is based in Switzerland, which is outside the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance. This adds as a plus point to security since VPN companies based inside the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance are considered a possible security threat, as these countries are known to spy on their citizens and share information internally.
 

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6. Warrant Canary

Short explanation: ProtonVPN has a warrant canary system.

Long explanation: A warrant canary is an indirect method to warn customers of governmental attempts to subpoena, where the presence of the warrant on the company's official website means the local government hasn't tried anything yet. In the event the warrant canary is removed from the company's page, it means they were asked.
 

7. Secure Core VPN

It protects your connection from the attacks that target the VPN server. It is a kind of attack that classic VPNs can't avoid, especially in countries with highly restrictive internet regulations, like China, Iran, Russia, or countries with broad surveillance power, like the USA and UK. Secure Core VPN passes your traffic through the Secure Core VPN first, then the Secure Core VPN passes user's traffic in multiple servers, making it difficult to unveil both the real IP address and the locations of ProtonVPN users. 
 

8. NetShield

It beefs up your device by blocking ads, trackers, and malware. How does it work exactly? 
The DNS server is responsible for all domain requests for every resource. When you enable NetShield on your device, the DNS server checks these domains and eliminates them if they match the databases of domains with ads, malware, or trackers. As a result, it speeds up your device and keeps it protected from cyber-attacks. 
 

9. Security at the Hardware Level

ProtonVPN Secure Core servers are 1000 meters below the surface in a former Swiss army fallout shelter. Servers in Iceland also reside in a former military base. By doing so, ProtonVPN makes sure that not only your information is secured, but also the servers are secured at the hardware level.
 

 

In terms of the application of VPNs in the real world, we dive further into how ProtonVPN fares against the rest in the following categories:

1. Streaming

ProtonVPN allows you to enjoy smooth streaming on many platforms like the US and UK Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO GO., and Disney+.

2. Torrent

Short explanation: ProtonVPN allows torrenting.

Long explanation: ProtonVPN allows P2P BitTorrent on three servers for the free VPN and on all servers for other premium plans. The servers are both secure and fast, which guarantees smooth torrenting and file sharing.
 

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3. Gaming

Short explanation: ProtonVPN provides a great speed for gaming.

Long explanation: ProtonVPN supports gaming with P2P networks and fast servers. It is both secure and fast, with a great ability to unblock limitations on games you wish to play. However, for the free VPN provided by ProtonVPN, don't expect much. To enjoy a fast gaming experience that has zero lags, you will need to subscribe to the premium plans.

4. Tor over VPN

Short explanation: ProtonVPN supports Tor over VPN.

Long explanation: You can route your traffic into the Tor anonymity network, which provides access to dark websites through the Onion network with a single click.

5. ProtonVPN dedicated IP

Short explanation: ProtonVPN doesn't have a dedicated IP.

Long explanation: Mostly, when using a VPN, you  want a dynamic IP (an IP that changes whenever you reconnect to a server). In certain situations, this is not the case. A dedicated server is recommended in the following situations:

• Business security.
• Secure online payment.
• Avoid getting blacklisted.
• Avoid CAPTCHAs.

6. Geo-censorship bypass (obfuscation)

Short explanation: ProtonVPN bypasses geo-restricted content by masking your IP.

Long explanation: ProtonVPN provides detailed guides on how to unblock the majority of streaming services and unblocks a good amount of content in many locations around the world. However, ProtonVPN made things clear on the website about which plans can let you access these services and turned to be limited to Visionary Plan and Plus Plan users only.

7. Split tunneling

Short explanation: ProtonVPN has the split tunneling feature.

Long explanation: Split tunneling is a feature provided by many VPNs and is considered important by many to stratify the use of VPN on your device.

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