Proton VPN is a
VPN service launched in 2017 and operated by the Swiss company
Proton AG
Proton AG is a Swiss technology company offering privacy-focused online services. It was founded in 2014 by a group of scientists who met at CERN and created Proton Mail.
The company's products are Proton Mail, Proton VPN, Proton Calendar, ...
, the company behind the email service
Proton Mail.
According to its official website, Proton VPN and Proton Mail share the same management team, offices, and technical resources, and are operated from Proton's headquarters in
Plan-les-Ouates
Plan-les-Ouates () is a municipality of the canton of Geneva in Switzerland.
History
Plan-les-Ouates is first mentioned in 1537 as ''Plan-des-Vuattes''. In 1851 it became an independent municipality when the municipality of Compesières dissolv ...
,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. On June 17, 2024 the company announced that it will be transitioning to a non-profit structure under the Proton Foundation.
Features
As of 27 August 2024, Proton VPN has a total of 6,608
servers, sited in 112 different nations.
Although Proton VPN owns and operates a portion of their servers, the bulk majority are owned and operated by ASNs such as M247 and Datacamp Limited.
[ Its service is available for Windows, MacOS, Linux, ]Android
Android may refer to:
Science and technology
* Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human
* Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system
** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...
, and iOS, ChromeOS and also has a command-line tool for Linux and can be implemented using the IPSEC protocol. Proton VPN can also be installed on a wireless router.
Proton VPN utilizes OpenVPN (UDP/TCP), IKEv2, and WireGuard (UDP/TCP) protocols with AES-256
The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), also known by its original name Rijndael (), is a specification for the encryption of electronic data established by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2001.
AES is a variant ...
encryption. On October 11, 2022, Proton VPN released their Stealth Protocol for Android, iOS and MacOS clients, designed to disguise VPN traffic as HTTPS traffic. In August 2024, Proton VPN announced that it had also added the Stealth protocol to its Windows client.
Proton VPN has a no-logs policy that was independently audited by Securitum, a European security auditing company.
In January 2020, Proton VPN released its source code on all platforms and had SEC Consult conduct an independent security audit.
Reception
In a January 2023 review by '' TechRadar'', Proton VPN received 4 1/2 out of 5 stars.PC Magazine
''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and have continued to the present d ...
'' review gave Proton VPN a 5 star rating. Proton VPN was awarded their Editor's Choice Award in 2022 and 2023.
In October 2023 technology website '' Engadget'' rated Proton VPN as the "best overall" for streaming, gaming, privacy and security.
In January 2024 a comparative review of 10 different VPNs by German technology magazine '' CHIP'' rated Proton VPN as their test winner.
See also
* Comparison of virtual private network services
* Internet privacy
* Encryption
* Secure communication
References
External links
*
{{VPN
Internet privacy
Virtual private network services
Free and open-source Android software
Proton AG