NordVPN's biggest updates of 2025

NordVPN has held the #1 spot in our VPN testing for some time now. It’s got everything, from strong core VPN features to a full suite of extra cybersecurity tools, fast connection speeds, and intuitive apps across all platforms. Plus, thanks to a large server network and strong unblocking capabilities, it’s also one of the best streaming VPNs.

As one of the best VPNs on the market, it’s only fair that NordVPN is constantly rolling out new upgrades, features, and security improvements.

2025 saw a huge amount of these developments introduced, and this article walks you through all the major ones in chronological order.

NordVPN's developments in 2025

Here's everything important that happened with NordVPN in 2025:

NordVPN passes fifth no-logs audit (February 2025)

NordVPN proved its no-logs policy for a fifth time, having Deloitte Audit Lithuania verify its IT systems, supporting infrastructure, and privacy claims. Deloitte inspected NordVPN’s infrastructure, technical logs, privacy-relevant configuration settings, deployment processes, as well as its obfuscated and P2P servers.

It also interviewed the VPN company's employees and concluded that NordVPN doesn’t collect, store, or track any personal data or browsing history.

NordVPN reinforces its security credentials with independent audit (March 2025)

After proving its no-logging claims, NordVPN submitted itself to an independent security audit by cybersecurity firm Cure53. The team conducted penetration testing and reviewed the source code of NordVPN’s desktop apps, mobile VPN apps, browser extensions, and features including Threat Protection Pro and Meshnet.

As expected from such a broad examination, Cure53 discovered several “high” severity vulnerabilities; however, and most importantly, no critical issues were found. Even better, NordVPN acted swiftly on Cure53’s recommendations, addressed all findings, and further strengthened its security credentials.

NordVPN introduces ID theft recovery for UK users (May 2025)

NordVPN introduced ID theft recovery coverage for UK users of up to £5,000 ($6,757) annually. This joined NordVPN’s scam loss recovery feature – designed to cover users who have mistakenly transferred money to scammers – and introduced reimbursements for legal expenses and lost funds (if your bank is unable to help) incurred while restoring your identity after a scam or identity theft.

It also includes professional assistance with repairing damaged credit, unfreezing bank accounts, and resolving fraudulent loans, as well as compensation for lost wages during the recovery process. In addition to the UK, this feature is available to NordVPN Ultimate plan users in the Netherlands, France, Sweden, Germany, and Italy.

NordVPN launches a full GUI for Linux users (May 2025)

The introduction of a full graphical user interface (GUI) for NordVPN’s Linux users was a major upgrade, as it brought the familiar simplicity of the Windows and Mac VPN apps to Linux, all while preserving the reliability, speed, and security NordVPN is known for. It’s worth noting that the GUI was added alongside the existing CLI, so you can freely switch between the two.

Most importantly, everything from light and dark modes and regular updates to core NordVPN features – such as Double VPN, Onion Over VPN, the kill switch, Threat Protection Pro, post-quantum encryption, and NordWhisper – is available to NordVPN Linux users through the GUI.

NordVPN announces post-quantum encryption support for all applications (May 2025)

After first launching PQE in September 2024, on its Linux VPN app, NordVPN announced full post-quantum encryption support across all its applications, including Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android, as well as tvOS and Android TV, in May this year.

Post-quantum encryption protects your data against the threat of quantum computers, which are expected to one day – known as Q-Day – advance to the point where they can crack the encryption methods currently safeguarding most of the internet.

"By integrating PQE into our VPN infrastructure, we're taking a proactive step to ensure long-term confidentiality and resilience for our customers' data, both now and in a post-quantum future," said Marijus Briedis, CTO at NordVPN.

NordVPN achieves excellent results in latest security and performance evaluation (June 2025)

NordVPN announced the results of an independent test conducted by West Coast Labs, focusing on the provider’s speed, security, and reliability. The tests compared NordVPN with three randomly selected competitors and evaluated various aspects of the service, including the performance of split tunneling, the kill switch, and auto-connect features, all of which worked consistently and correctly.

The results also reinforced NordVPN’s position as one of the fastest VPNs in the industry. Additionally, it passed all the eight separate leak scenarios with good marks, once again proving it’s one of the most secure VPNs.

Beyond that, NordVPN was 36.1% faster than the industry average when establishing a VPN connection and showed only a minimal impact on system performance.

NordVPN certified as the only anti-phishing VPN (June 2025)

Testing by AV-Comparatives found that NordVPN’s Threat Protection Pro successfully detected and blocked 90% of phishing websites, making NordVPN the only VPN service with certified phishing protection for the second year in a row.

The test evaluated NordVPN against 228 phishing URLs and 200 clean ones, with its 90% detection rate exceeding the 85% threshold required for AV-Comparatives’ anti-phishing certification. The VPN also didn’t raise any false alarms with legitimate online banking and related sites.

Introducing a new NordVPN feature lets you know when sites aren't working (August 2025)

To continue to “build tools that promote digital awareness and resilience,” NordVPN introduced its “Is it down?” feature, which analyzes user reports to inform users about the current status of various online platforms, including Instagram, Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Xbox Network.

The feature helps you find out whether an issue is widespread or localized, covering both user-specific problems such as DNS issues or ISP outages and broader incidents like DDoS attacks, scheduled maintenance, or software updates. It recalculates a site’s status every 30 minutes based on user reports from the past 24 hours, and marks a site as down once reports exceed a 75% threshold above a set baseline.

NordVPN shuts down Meshnet (August 2025)

Although it later took a U-turn, NordVPN initially announced in August that it would fully shut down its secure file-sharing feature, Meshnet, on December 1, 2025. The provider cited the feature’s lack of popularity and the high costs required to maintain it.

For context, Meshnet allows you to securely share files, link devices, and create personal mesh networks of up to 60 devices – 10 of your own and 50 external.

NordVPN adds crypto wallet checker to stop scams in their tracks (September 2025)

In order to protect its users from cryptocurrency fraud, NordVPN added a crypto wallet address checker to its Threat Protection Pro suite. It automatically flags suspicious wallet addresses while you browse, helping you verify an address’s authenticity before sending funds.

The checker runs locally on your device, scanning web pages in the background to find out if there’s a wallet address there. If there is, it's sent to NordVPN’s verification service, which compares it against a database of known malicious addresses. If a match is found, the address is highlighted on the page in real time. Also, your browsing history and page content never leave your device, preserving your privacy.

NordVPN U-turns on axing Meshnet due to public backlash (September 2025)

“We heard you, Meshnet is not going anywhere,” said NordVPN in a blog post just weeks after announcing Meshnet’s shutdown. Although the company initially cited high costs and low usage as reasons for pulling Meshnet, it later reversed the decision following public backlash, with users expressing strong support for the feature.

Of course, Meshnet is a highly useful tool, allowing users to tinker with private networks, share files securely, and game with friends. Additionally, NordVPN announced that Meshnet will become open source, allowing anyone to examine, contribute to, or build on it.

NordVPN introduces hijacked-session alerts for Threat Protection Pro (October 2025)

Another addition to Threat Protection Pro in 2025 was hijacked-session alerts, which are designed to protect your data from being sold on the dark web.

This feature “hashes” your login session cookies – small pieces of data that can include your email addresses and passwords – scans them against a list of known compromised hashes, and, if a match is found, sends you a notification and asks you to log out and change your account passwords.

However, you don’t need to worry about NordVPN accessing your sensitive data, as the "full session cookie information never leaves the user's device."

NordVPN open-sources its Linux app's GUI and simplifies installation (October 2025)

After the launch of its Linux GUI boosted its daily active Linux users by more than 70% in just 100 days, NordVPN made the Linux GUI fully open source, allowing users to inspect the code, identify vulnerabilities, and submit improvements.

Additionally, NordVPN integrated its Linux GUI client into the Snap package, enabling users to install the VPN app with a single command. Finally, automatic updates ensure the app stays up to date without requiring manual downloads or configuration.

NordVPN announces its Vega OS Fire Stick app (November 2025)

Amazon’s newly released Fire TV Stick 4K Select runs on Vega OS, which was designed to combat illegal streaming and “dodgy” Fire Sticks. A new OS also meant that the best Fire Stick VPNs were incompatible with the new device. However, NordVPN led the charge by becoming the first VPN to announce a dedicated Vega OS Fire Stick app.

In fact, NordVPN’s app was ready in October, but it had to wait for Amazon to roll out VPN support for Vega OS, which finally happened in late November. With a dedicated NordVPN app on your Vega OS device, you can protect your streaming privacy and unblock geo-restricted content from around the world.

NordVPN passes infrastructure audit with flying colors (December 2025)

NordVPN rounded off the year by completing yet another independent evaluation of its applications, browser extensions, Threat Protection components, 2FA, server infrastructure, and core features.

The assessment, carried out by Cure53, found that NordVPN’s mobile and desktop apps follow “strict security practices,” including secure data storage and biometric protections. It also concluded that NordVPN’s servers are highly secure and employ restrictive firewall rules.

As is the motive of such audits, Cure53 did highlight a number of issues, all of which the NordVPN team promptly addressed and fixed. "Security work never ends, and each new assessment helps us make the service even safer," said Marijus Briedis, CTO of NordVPN.