Rebuilt from the ground up, the new Proton VPN Linux app is efficient, elegant, and modular in design, allowing us to easily add new features as we develop them.

An advanced Linux VPN app

Our new Linux app comes packed with a range of advanced VPN features:

• NetShield Ad-blocker — A DNS filtering feature that blocks ads, trackers, and malware
• Kill Switch — Ensures your real IP isn’t exposed if your VPN connection drops
• VPN Accelerator —  Can increase VPN speeds by up to 400% over large distance
• Moderate NAT — Can solve connection problems when playing multiplayer online games, or having video conversations using WebRTC
• Port forwarding — Greatly improves P2P performance
• Auto-connect at startup — Connect to your favorite VPN server on startup
• Pin servers to tray — Provides a convenient way to connect to your favorite servers
• OpenVPN DCO — Provides equivalent speed performance to WireGuard
• Secure Core — A double VPN security solution where the first server is located only in countries with strong privacy laws

Which Linux distributions are supported?

Going forward, we will officially support the Linux app on the latest versions of Debian, Ubuntu, and Fedora. This will allow us to concentrate our energies on delivering the best possible experience for our Linux community.

The app may work with many other Linux distributions (especially ones based on Debian and Ubuntu), but support for using the app on unsupported distros may be limited.

Roadmap

One of the big advantages of our new app is its modular design, which makes it easier for us to develop and implement new features. Current plans include:

• A command line interface — If you need this feature immediately, you can still use our old (v3) CLI tool.
• WireGuard — OpenVPN DCO produces identical speed performance to WireGuard, but we know this is a highly requested feature.

Become a Fedora package maintainer

We’re working on uploading the application to the official Fedora repositories, and are looking for community volunteers to support our mission to make privacy the default for everyone. If you’d like to be a Proton VPN package maintainer in the Fedora Project, please get in touch.

We’re excited about our new Linux app. It marks an important step forward in our support for Linux, an open-source operating system that respects your privacy. 

The post Introducing the new Proton VPN Linux app appeared first on Proton VPN Blog.

Ever since we launched Proton VPN, we’ve received inquiries from businesses. While we haven’t publicized it in the past, we’ve been providing VPN services for business use since 2019. In recent years, the demand for Proton VPN from businesses has increased exponentially,  and today there are thousands of business users, ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies to major governmental and non-governmental organizations. As a result, we’re formally rolling out a Proton VPN for Business offering today. 

What is Proton VPN for Business?

A VPN has long been an essential business security tool, and today, practically all organizations, large and small, use some type of VPN. The shift to remote work and the need for compliance have increased the work of keeping business networks secure. Instead of simply protecting your office network, your team must now figure out how to provide secure access to employees worldwide and segment access to various company resources. No matter how big your organization is, Proton VPN can help give your team fast, easy access to internal resources while keeping attackers and fraudsters out.

While Proton VPN for Business leverages some of the technology in our world-renowned consumer VPN offering, it’s fundamentally a different product with additional capabilities. Proton VPN for Business is designed to support small and large organizations and has the administrative tools required to manage thousands of users and devices across complex businesses.

Protect employees out in the field

Some international organizations have team members in the field, working in countries with hostile internet conditions where resources are routinely blocked and connections actively monitored. In such situations, a VPN becomes an essential personal security tool, enabling secure connectivity to the outside world.

Segment access with private gateways

Proton VPN for Business also provides private gateway capabilities via dedicated servers and IP addresses. Each private gateway is only accessible to specifically authorized members and groups within your organization, making it easy for businesses to limit and segment access. You can limit access to resources based on the gateway, ensuring people can only access the resources they need to do their job. You can choose to have the servers and IP addresses that form your private gateway in any of the over 65 locations that Proton VPN operates in today, providing low latency access from anywhere on the globe.

Private gateways also make it easy to segment and control access to sensitive resources, allowing you to meet the requirements for security certifications such as ISO 27001, SOC2, and more.

No hardware, easy to manage

Unlike existing corporate VPN services, Proton VPN for Business requires no dedicated hardware or installation. We can instantly configure private gateways and other services, and you can rapidly scale your service up or down as needed. Proton VPN for Business is also a fully managed service, so you won’t need in-house experts to manage your corporate VPN. Instead, you benefit from Proton’s highly redundant infrastructure and our experience operating one of the world’s largest VPN services.

More than just a VPN

Proton VPN also provides capabilities that make it more than just a VPN service — it’s an all-around network security tool. For instance, our NetShield Ad-blocker feature blocks malware and helps prevent malicious internet sites from infecting your team’s devices. It can also block ads, trackers, and other categories of unwanted online activity.

Proton VPN applications have built-in protections against man-in-the-middle attacks for operations over hostile networks. Proton VPN apps will proactively warn you if such an attempt is detected and refuse connections to a malicious server.

Proton VPN offers security you can trust – and verify

The VPN you choose for your business will be the front door for your remote, hybrid, and traveling employees. This means you need a VPN whose security you can trust.

 Proton VPN offers several advantages over standard business VPNs:

Open source and publicly audited

Proton was founded by scientists who met at CERN, and we’re guided by the principles of transparency and peer review. As scientists, we don’t accept any claims we can’t verify ourselves, and we wouldn’t expect you to either. That’s why Proton VPN is open source, and our code is open to inspection. Our security claims are more than just claims — they’re facts you can verify for yourself.

We also publish audits conducted by independent security experts for all our services and no-logs policy, giving you access to an independent assessment.

A Swiss-based VPN

Switzerland is home to some of the strongest data privacy laws in the world. As our headquarters is in Geneva, this means your usage of Proton VPN is also subject to these strong legal protections. Switzerland’s foreign policy of neutrality, strong rule of law, and advanced infrastructure means we’ll always be able to provide our service to your organization.

Unparalleled track record in security

As one of the most widely used VPNs in the world, Proton VPN has a long track record of defending against hostile threats. Our high-impact work has been chronicled on the front page of The New York Times, and we also assist high-profile organizations such as Novaya Gazeta (winner of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize). The UN has also recommended Proton services as a secure way to deliver sensitive information.

Advanced features to help you get your work done

With VPN Accelerator, Stealth protocol, and Alternative Routing, you can be sure that your VPN connection always works fast, no matter where you’re located, and even if the network is hostile.

Get started with Proton VPN for Business

We’re excited to bring a new level of protection and access to businesses of all sizes with our new Proton VPN for Business plans:

• Proton VPN Essentials — Safely access the internet from anywhere with basic monitoring and organization management.
• Proton VPN Business — Get all advanced security features, including private gateways with dedicated servers and IPs, easy access segmentation, and more advanced organization management.

As before, we will continue to provide a Proton VPN Enterprise offering, which provides customized solutions to meet the exact needs of your organization. A full comparison, plus the contact details for our enterprise team, can be found on our new Proton VPN for Business pricing page.

In the months and years to come, we look forward to expanding the features and functionality of Proton VPN for Business based on your feedback. To learn more about Proton VPN for Business, you can get in touch with us directly using the form below.

The post Introducing Proton VPN for Business appeared first on Proton VPN Blog.

Right now, the Ethiopian people are under another online blackout targeting the most popular social media websites. The government’s censorship is intended to stifle free speech, cut off means of communication, and prevent protests.

These blocks coincided with the World Day Against Cyber Censorship on March 12, when activists around the world recognize the harmful effects of authoritarian meddling with a free internet. As we wrote for that occasion on our blog, “fighting the censors deployed by authoritarian regimes is a cat-and-mouse game.” But it’s one that Proton VPN has been fighting since 2017, and we will continue to do so. 

The latest censorship efforts in Ethiopia are a case study in how technology can be deployed in the name of freedom and highlights how Proton VPN and our community of supporters have been on the front lines of this global struggle.

• What’s happening in Ethiopia
• Why censorship in Ethiopia matters
• How we’re helping in Ethiopia
• How you can help

What’s happening in Ethiopia

All of Ethiopia is served by a single internet service provider (ISP) called Ethio Telecom, which is owned by the state. Because of its monopoly position, if you want to connect to the internet in Ethiopia, you must do so through Ethio Telecom.

Historically, the government in power has used this information bottleneck for political purposes, often under the pretense of fighting misinformation. While misinformation is indeed common in Ethiopia, the censorship has often targeted opposition news sources or websites operated by Ethiopian dissidents abroad. (Freedom House’s 2022 net freedom report on Ethiopia is a comprehensive resource on this issue.)

The latest blocks arose after a controversy in Ethiopia’s Orthodox Church in which a group of archbishops split from the church over ethnic grievances. When clashing church leaders began calling for nationwide protests and counter-protests, the government ordered Ethio Telecom to block certain social media sites. 

Starting on February 9, 2023, the government began blocking access to a handful of social media websites, including Facebook, Telegram, TikTok, and YouTube. The results were instant and indiscriminate. Not only could protesters no longer organize, but regular internet users could no longer access their profiles, communicate with friends and family, or even look up news and entertainment videos on some of the world’s most popular websites. 

Why censorship in Ethiopia matters

Even if you don’t live in Ethiopia, attacks on the free flow of information are a global problem that affect everyone. As the mass exodus of refugees in the first part of this century shows, repression anywhere can become a problem everywhere.

When Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018, there were high hopes for his leadership, and he even won the Nobel Peace Prize in part for loosening the country’s tight grip on media and freeing journalists from prison. But beginning in 2020, that started to change.

“I thought it would be another era and that democracy and freedom of speech may be restored,” one journalist told Reuters, “but actually things are deteriorating, so many journalists have fled the country and some are in jail.”

In the big picture, censorship in Ethiopia helps to undermine the promise of the internet as a free and open platform for all. From China’s Great Firewall to Silicon Valley’s walled gardens, those in power have an interest in partitioning the internet into walled arenas to enrich themselves or consolidate control.

Proton categorically rejects this vision of a divided internet. And the work we do, enabled by our community, has a direct impact, helping people break down online barriers meant to contain them.

How we’re helping in Ethiopia

Ethiopia uses a few methods to block websites. According to Freedom House, the government uses DNS filtering, IP address blocking, and sometimes deep packet inspection.

Fortunately there are ways to get around the blocks currently in place.

With a VPN, instead of connecting directly to the blocked website, you first establish an encrypted connection with a server in another country operated by your VPN provider. After establishing your VPN connection, you can then use the internet normally.

As the diagram above shows, the VPN encrypts your internet traffic between your device and the VPN server. The VPN server acts as an intermediary connecting you to the websites or apps you want to visit. The ISP can only see that you have connected to a foreign server.

Sometimes ISPs may try to block suspected VPN servers. If that happens, you can simply switch to a different VPN server. Most VPN providers offer hundreds of servers to choose from. 

And in case you’re wondering, VPNs are legal in Ethiopia.

Often, existing tools are not enough. As we mentioned earlier: It’s a cat-and-mouse game. Whenever we develop a tool to defeat censorship, the government or ISP begins working on ways to cut them off. (The New York Times recently profiled our work fighting against Russian censors.)

To that end, Proton VPN offers unique anti-censorship features that may be helpful in the context of government blocks:

Alternative routing

In some cases, governments have tried to enforce their censorship regimes by blocking VPN websites. To avoid this, Proton VPN apps automatically find alternative connections that are unlikely to be blocked.

Smart protocol

Another censorship tactic is to block certain protocols used by VPNs. Our apps for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS support multiple VPN protocols and automatically switch to a different protocol if one is blocked. 

Stealth

We have also developed a unique protocol called Stealth which is designed to make your VPN connection appear like normal internet traffic and more resistant to blocks.

How you can help

When the government began censoring the social media sites in February, we witnessed a rapid uptick in the number of connetions to Proton VPN from Ethiopia. The graph below shows the percentage increase in connections above normal levels. Connections to our servers grew by nearly 4,000% after the blocks took effect.

Proton VPN is free to use and offers unlimited data with no artificial bandwidth restrictions. The reason for this is simple: Our mission is to create an internet where privacy and freedom are accessible to all — not just to those who can afford it.

For those who can afford to pay, we also offer Plus and Unlimited plans to those who want extra features and more servers to choose from. By upgrading, you are directly helping people such as those in Ethiopia connect to the uncensored web and communicate freely, even in cases when they can’t afford to pay.

The post The Proton community is fighting censorship in Ethiopia appeared first on Proton VPN Blog.

Deutsche Welle (DW) is Germany’s international news organization that provides accurate and independent coverage and analysis of events worldwide. While DW is state-funded, it’s governed by the Deutsche Welle Act, which is intended to keep it independent and free of government interference. 

DW is available in 32 languages, making it an invaluable news source, especially in countries where authoritarian governments censor objective reporting. These regimes often see DW as a threat and the governments of Turkey, Iran, and Russia have blocked DW’s TV channel and website.

In the fall of 2022, DW came to Proton to see if we could help them make their independent reporting available all around the world. Proton VPN is one of the most widely used VPNs when people need to bypass online censorship. We’ve become the VPN people turn to when all others are blocked. We view this as a vital part of our work to build a better internet.

That’s why we’re excited to announce that we’re partnering with DW to ensure that the people who need it most can access a credible and objective news source for free. Simply look for the specially-labeled DW servers in all our Free locations (United Sates, Japan, and Netherlands), or search for “news”.

Connecting to a DW server will provide you with direct, unlimited, high-speed access to the DW website, including all live streaming and video-on-demand content.

Fighting for a better internet

Internet censorship is unfortunately becoming commonplace, but we believe our partnership with DW, which is the first of its kind, is an effective way to fight back. Given DW’s work in the face of persistent internet blocks, our partnership is a natural extension of our work, even if it has no precedent. 

We believe we all have a responsibility to stand up and defend human rights, especially in places where they are under assault. Together, DW and Proton are dedicated to providing everyone with the ability to access the information they need. And because these servers function as VPN servers, they also protect DW’s readers from government surveillance. 

“We are very happy to be partnering with a company that is just as dedicated as we at DW are to protecting the online privacy of activists, journalists and others while providing them with free, unrestricted access to the open Internet,” said Guido Baumhauer, the Managing Director of Distribution, Marketing, and Technology at DW.

We’ve focused on turning Proton VPN into one of the most censorship-resistant VPNs currently available. Thanks to the support of the Proton community, we’ve been able to develop novel anti-censorship features, including:

• Smart Protocol — Detects attempts to block your VPN connection and automatically selects the VPN protocol and IP port that will bypass the block
• Alternative Routing — Bypasses advanced VPN block attempts by routing your connection over hard-to-trace third-party networks
• Stealth VPN protocol — Obfuscates your VPN connection to make it look like a standard internet connection

We hope that through this partnership, we can help DW deliver accurate news to people living behind the veil of state-imposed censorship. 

The post Deutsche Welle and Proton VPN team up to fight censorship appeared first on Proton VPN Blog.

In this article, we discuss what Permanent Kill Switch does, how to enable it, and how it differs from our regular kill switch feature.

What is a kill switch?

Our kill switch feature blocks all external network traffic to and from your device until the app automatically re-establishes a connection to the same VPN server. This prevents your real IP address from being accidentally exposed on the internet if your VPN session is disrupted (for example, when you change your WiFi network or encounter technical issues). 

The kill switch only engages when you start a VPN connection, and is disabled when you manually disconnect the VPN or shut down your device. 

What is our permanent kill switch?

The permanent kill switch prevents all outgoing and incoming connections outside the VPN interface. This means that your device will not be able to access the internet unless you connect to one of our VPN servers. This includes if you manually disconnect the VPN and when your device is shutting down and starting up. 

When the permanent kill switch is enabled, you can‘t access the internet unless you connect to a Proton VPN server. 

How to use the permanent kill switch

A Kill Switch icon is now located in the Quick Settings bar of the Proton VPN Windows and Linux apps. Click on it to show all kill switch options. You can enable the Kill Switch, enable the Permanent Kill Switch, or turn Kill Switch Off (this disables both types of Kill Switch).

Learn more about how to use the permanent kill Switch

How does the permanent kill Switch work?

On Windows, our kill switch and permanent kill switch features use the Windows Filtering Platform, deploying specific filters to block connections outside the VPN interface.

The kill switch uses dynamic filters to block all incoming and outgoing connections when an existing VPN connection drops. It only allows our app to try to reconnect to the last server used. 

The permanent kill switch uses persistent filters that force all outgoing internet connections to go through the VPN interface. If the VPN is not connected for any reason, no internet connections are possible.

On Linux, we create a dummy network interface and redirect all outgoing traffic there to block connections.

Final thoughts

Our team is always developing new ways to improve security and protect your privacy. The permanent kill switch achieves both these aims while also being very easy to use. 

The permanent kill switch provides an additional way to protect your privacy online by ensuring that you never accidentally access the internet without the protection using a VPN brings.

Thank you for your continued support.

FAQ

The post Always stay secure with our permanent kill switch appeared first on Proton VPN Blog.

Update October 2023: The Proton VPN browser extension is now supported on the (Firefox-based) Waterfox browser.

The Proton VPN browser extension provides a convenient and secure way to protect your privacy online.

You asked, we listened. We are excited to announce the Proton VPN browser extension, one of our most requested features. With the browser extension, you can:

• Easily protect your browser traffic with the VPN, without affecting speeds or the IP address of the other apps on your system. For example, you can browse privately without affecting the ping rates for online games. Or you can stream from another country in one browser while shopping for the best local deals in a different browser. 
• Connect to different VPN servers in different browsers
• Browse privately on your work computer while connected to your company VPN
• Browse privately on devices where you don’t have the admin rights to install a full VPN app
• Protect your privacy on low-end devices that struggle to run a full VPN app

The Proton VPN browser extension is available for Chromium-based browsers (such as Google Chrome, Brave, Microsoft Edge, Chromium, Opera, and Vivaldi) and Firefox-based browsers (including Firefox itself, LibreWolf, and Waterfox).

It is a premium feature available to everyone with a paid Proton VPN plan (Proton VPN Plus, Proton Unlimited, Proton Visionary, or Proton for Business).

What is the Proton VPN browser extension?

Our browser extension provides similar protection to our full VPN app, but it only encrypts your browser’s internet connection (using HTTPS). If you want to encrypt all the connections made by your device, you still need to download our app.

Learn how a VPN works

You can run the extension in as many different browsers as you like, and you can connect each browser to a different VPN server. Each browser running an active VPN connection does count towards the limit of ten simultaneous VPN connections.

For example, if traveling away from home, you could run Brave with the Proton VPN browser extension connected to a nearby VPN server to secure your browsing session using the fastest available server. At the same time, you could run Firefox with the Proton VPN browser extension connected to a server in your home country, so that you can easily access your favorite geo-restricted online services.

With this VPN extension, you can:

• Quickly and easily hide your browsing history from your internet service provider (ISP) and public WiFi hosts 
• Bypass censorship
• Prevent tracking from websites you visit by hiding your IP address
• Stream your favorite shows, movies, and live TV when traveling away from home 

All this happens within your browser. Connections made by your device’s operating system, other apps, and browsers not running our browser extension aren’t encrypted or routed through our VPN servers.

At Proton VPN, we are always working to improve our products with additional functionality and features. The browser extension now supports many of the more advanced features found in our full VPN apps. These include:

• Secure Core VPN – Improves security and privacy by routing your VPN connection through a hardened server in a privacy-friendly country (Switzerland, Sweden, or Iceland), before connecting to the internet via a second VPN server. 
• Auto connect – Ensures your browsing sessions are always protected by Proton VPN
• Split tunneling – Allows you to exclude specific websites from your VPN connection. This allows you, for example, to connect to a VPN server in one country while watching a local streaming service in another tab.

How to use the Proton VPN browser extension

1. Download the Proton VPN browser extension from the Chrome Web Store or Firefox Browser Add-ons. 

2. Sign in using your Proton VPN Account details.

3. Click the Quick Connect button or choose a country or individual server.

To use the Proton VPN browser extension, you must have a paid Proton VPN plan. If you are on our Free plan, you can upgrade to access this premium feature.

The Proton VPN browser extensions are stand-alone products, and you do not need the full Proton VPN app to use them. 

Please see our support article for more information on the Proton VPN browser extension.

Serving our community

We share your enthusiasm for a Proton VPN browser extension. It makes it very easy to protect your privacy, bypass censorship, and stream content in your browser with just a couple of clicks. 

As always with Proton VPN, the browser extension will be made open source so that you can trust (and verify) its code. This new extension will make it even simpler for more people to enjoy the peace of mind that comes from using a no-logs VPN service that’s based in Switzerland and trusted by millions of activists, journalists, and ordinary people around the world. 

The post Introducing the Proton VPN browser extension appeared first on Proton VPN Blog.

So wherever you are in the EU, you can connect to a server in your country. This will usually provide you with the best possible browsing speeds and also allow you to access local services as if you were back home. 

And if you have an active subscription to supported streaming services such as DAZN, France.tv, Mediaset Infinity, RAI, Canal+, 6Play, Zattoo, and more, you will be able to securely access them while connected to Proton VPN. 

Proton VPN offers over 1,800 servers in 64 countries, including every country in the EU.

If you are on our Proton VPN Free plan, you can connect to servers in the Netherlands. To access the full range of our EU servers, upgrade to a Proton VPN Plus plan.

Introducing Smart Routing technology in Europe

Malta is our first EU location to use Smart Routing, a technology that allows us to offer VPN servers in countries we otherwise might not be able to service. 

When you connect to one of our VPN servers in Malta, you’re really connecting to a server physically located in Marseilles, France. Despite the server not being located in Malta, this allows us to provide the best performance for the largest number of users interested in accessing services based in Malta.

Proton is here for you

At Proton, our mission is to build a better internet where privacy is the default. By making our Proton VPN servers available in every EU country, we’re expanding the convenience and usefulness of our service to an ever-larger audience. 

Learn more about our mission

The post Proton VPN now has servers in every EU country appeared first on Proton VPN Blog.

Completed improvements

Over the course of 2022, we delivered the following improvements:

• We improved gaming and video-conferencing performance by introducing support for moderate NAT (network address translation).
• We introduced two-factor authentication to Proton VPN to improve your account security.
• We introduced native support for third-party WireGuard clients and routers.
• We had independent experts audit our no-logs policy.

However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the start of 2022 required us to revamp our plans for the year. Shortly after the war began, millions of Russians chose Proton to bypass government censors and access the truth. We became the most widely used VPN in Russia because we provide a trustworthy, open-source, and fast VPN service for free.

In response to the clear social need for us to maintain our service in the face of challenging censorship conditions, we focused most of our development efforts in 2022 on developing stronger anti-censorship features.

Improved anti-censorship features

From the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February to the recent Mahsa Amini protests in Iran, 2022 has been a momentous year for Proton VPN. Around the globe, millions of people suffering the attacks and censorship of repressive regimes have turned to Proton VPN to bypass censorship, express themselves, and report the truth.

We developed Proton VPN to make sure everyone could access the uncensored internet in security and privacy, no matter what. To achieve this goal, we put most of our engineering resources into developing and launching our unique Stealth VPN protocol, which was released in October. Stealth makes Proton VPN even harder to detect and block by making VPN traffic look practically identical to regular web traffic. We released Stealth in Iran and Russia before making it available in the rest of the world. It’s been widely released, but we’ll continue working on it to bring it to every major platform.

What to expect next

To deliver Stealth as fast as possible, we necessarily had to deprioritize some of the other features and improvements we’d originally planned for 2022. Now that Stealth has been released on most platforms, we can resume working on these other improvements. Below we discuss what you can expect from Proton VPN over the next six months.

Proton VPN browser extensions

We believe everyone deserves privacy online, which is why we’re working to develop Proton VPN apps for every device and platform. This led us to develop native Proton VPN browser extensions for the Firefox and Chrome browser families, which should be released for beta testing by the end of 2022. These extensions will make it even easier for more people to protect their browsing and bypass censorship with Proton VPN.

Service improvements

Privacy and security should not come at the expense of browsing speed or usability. To achieve our mission of building a better internet where privacy is the default, we must make Proton VPN connections as fast and unobtrusive as surfing the internet without a VPN. This has led us to target several service improvements.

Expanded streaming support

If you pay for a subscription to a streaming service, you should be able to watch the shows and movies you pay for, even if you are traveling in another country. We’re currently working on expanding the number of streaming services we support and the locations we can make them available in. This will let you stream your favorite shows and movies, no matter where your travels take you. The streaming services we add support for are guided by requests from the Proton community, so let us know.

Continued network improvements

Proton VPN today is already present in 64 countries with over 1,800 servers. Going forward, we will continue to expand our global network into even more countries, and we’ll continue to roll out more 10 Gbps servers. 

This year, we expanded our infrastructure so much that the majority of our network is now 10 Gbps, an important milestone. Thanks to these improvements and our unique VPN Accelerator technology, which provides up to 400% faster speeds compared to our regular VPN service (especially when connecting to distant VPN servers), Proton VPN is the best in class when it comes to performance.

We’re also increasing the diversity and quality of the IP addresses we provide. VPN services can unfortunately sometimes be abused by bad actors, which is one reason we separate our free server infrastructure from our paid server infrastructure. This preserves the highest network quality for our Proton VPN Plus users. Our upcoming improvements in anti-abuse will improve IP quality further for all users. You can expect fewer instances of VPN detection (for example, when you connect to a streaming service) or CAPTCHA prompts from third-party services over the next several months.

Improving NetShield Ad-blocker

NetShield plays an important part in keeping your browsing secure and private. It blocks ads, malware, and trackers before your browser can even load them, keeping your device safe and making web pages and other internet content load significantly faster. For this reason, it has long been one of Proton VPN’s most popular features.

In early 2023, we’ll improve NetShield to make it even more useful, allowing you to see exactly how many ads, trackers, and malware have been targeting you, where they are coming from, and how NetShield has blocked them.

An internet that’s private by default

We want to thank the entire Proton community for your support. Not only have you allowed us to build a VPN network with servers in over 60 countries worldwide, you’ve enabled us to help those most in need. The access to the uncensored internet that we’re providing in Ukraine, Russia, and Iran, which is direly needed, would not be possible without your support. Thank you.

We of course have much more planned for Proton VPN in 2023, and the roadmap above is just what we plan to release in the first part of the year. Next year, we look forward to sharing another update about the other exciting features we have planned.

If you have questions or feedback about our plans, we want to hear from you! We take your feedback seriously and use it to make sure Proton VPN meets your needs. Contact us on Facebook, Twitter, or Reddit, and let us know what you think.

The post Proton VPN’s roadmap for the first part of 2023 appeared first on Proton VPN Blog.

Save money and support Proton with our special limited-time Black Friday offers. You can now get up to 50% off Proton VPN and six months free. 

This has been a challenging year for many people, with rising inflation and a higher cost of living, and we feel it’s more important than ever to continue serving the community. For this reason, we’re offering larger-than-normal discounts for this year’s Black Friday to make Proton VPN accessible to even more people.

This year’s Black Friday deals

50% off Proton VPN Plus + six months free

Get our best deal with 50% off our Proton VPN Plus plan* with a 24-month subscription, plus six months free. This deal is billed upfront at $119.76 for 30 months. With a VPN Plus plan, you get:

• Access to 1700+ servers in 60+ countries
• Highest VPN speeds
• 10 VPN connections
• Stream popular services from around the world
• P2P BitTorrent support
• NetShield Ad-blocker (can also block malware and trackers)
• Secure Core servers
• Tor over VPN

*Discount calculated based on our standard monthly pricing: $9.99/month for a VPN Plus plan.

40% off Proton VPN Plus + three months free

We’re also offering 40% off our Proton VPN Plus plan* with a 12-month subscription, plus three months free. This deal is billed at $71.88 upfront for 15 months.

*Discount calculated based on our standard monthly pricing: $9.99/month for a VPN Plus plan.

40% off Proton Unlimited

Upgrade your privacy, enjoy the convenience of the entire Proton encrypted ecosystem, and save with our best deal for Proton Unlimited. Get 40% off* when you buy a 24-month subscription during our Black Friday sale. This deal is billed at $172.56 upfront for 24 months. With our Proton Unlimited plan, you get all the benefits of our VPN Plus plan, together with:

• Proton Mail Plus encrypted email
• Proton Drive with 500 GB total storage (shared with Mail)
• Proton Calendar with 20 calendars and calendar sharing

*Discount calculated based on our standard monthly pricing: $11.99 for a Proton Unlimited plan.

If you take advantage of any of our Proton VPN specific Black Friday offers, your plan will renew at the discounted rate for as long as you keep your subscription active. The Proton Unlimited offer renews automatically at the standard price ($191.76) for 24 months.

Privacy you can trust

At Proton, our mission is to build a better internet where privacy is the default. That’s why we offer a Free plan with no data or artificial speed restrictions. If you subscribe to a paid plan, you’ll not only support our mission, you’ll also receive access to our many premium features. 

Proton exists to serve our community, and we work tirelessly to improve our products. In the last year alone, we have added the following features to our VPN service:

• Port forwarding for improved P2P performance
• Stealth protocol to help defeat censorship
• Confirmed our no-logs policy via an independent audit
• Expanded our server capacity to 1700+ servers in 64 countries worldwide
• Introduced Smart Routing servers to allow VPN access in sensitive locations (such as India)

Our apps are fully open source and have been independently audited. We are trusted by activists, journalists, and dissidents around the world, and Swiss laws guarantee your privacy when using our service. As a member of our community, you help us fight for a better world.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get these deals if I already have a Proton VPN account?

If you already use Proton VPN and are eligible, you will see a Special Offer icon on your account dashboard and in your Proton VPN apps.

To get one of our Black Friday deals, click or tap the Special Offer button at the top and select the desired plan.

Why don’t I see the Black Friday deal on my dashboard or app?

If you do not see the icon on your account dashboard, try refreshing the page. If you’re using our mobile app, try closing it and restarting it. 

If you still do not see the icon, please contact Support.

Who is eligible for the 50% off Proton VPN Plus + six months free Black Friday offer?

You can take advantage of this Black Friday offer if you do not currently have a Proton subscription or are already subscribed to one of the following plans:

• Proton Free
• Proton VPN Plus 1-month
• Proton VPN Plus 1-year

This offer is not available if you downgraded to our Free plan after October 1, 2022

Who is eligible for the 40% off Proton VPN Plus + three months free Black Friday offer?

You can take advantage of this Black Friday offer if you do not currently have a Proton subscription or are already subscribed to one of the following plans:

• Proton Free
• Proton VPN Plus 1-month

This offer is not available if you downgraded to our Free plan after October 1, 2022

Who is eligible for the Proton VPN Unlimited Black Friday offer?

You can take advantage of this Black Friday offer if you do not currently have a Proton subscription or are already subscribed to one of the following plans:

• Proton Free
• Proton VPN Plus 1-month
• Proton VPN Plus 1-year
• Proton VPN Plus 2-year
• Proton Unlimited 1-month
• Proton Unlimited 1-year
• An existing paid Proton plan (Mail Plus, Drive Plus) without VPN Plus

Are there any deals if I am already on the VPN Plus two-year plan?

Yes, you can take advantage of our Proton Unlimited Black Friday offer. This is an all-in-one bundle that provides convenient access to the entire Proton encrypted ecosystem at our best price of the year.

Are there any deals if I am on other Proton paid plans?

If you have a Proton Mail Plus or Proton Drive Plus plan, you can take advantage of our Proton Unlimited Black Friday offer. This is an all-in-one bundle that provides convenient access to the entire Proton encrypted ecosystem at our best price of the year.

Can I pay for the Proton VPN Plus special year-end offer using Bitcoin?

You can pay in Bitcoin to get the deal, but not directly from the landing page or your account dashboard. 

• If you’ve never used our service before, please sign up first. 
• Then log in at account.protonvpn.com and go to Credits → Add credits → Payment method and select Bitcoin from the dropdown menu. Add a sufficient amount for the promotion you would like to get. 
• Once you see the credits on your account in the dashboard, click the Special Offer button and select the desired offer.

Will I keep the discount when my plan runs out? What price will my plan renew at?

Our 50% off VPN Plus + six months and 40% off VPN Plus + three months Black Friday deals are lifetime offers that will continue to renew at the same discounted price once the subscription period is over as long as you keep the subscription active. 

• The 50% off VPN Plus + six months free offer is billed at $119.76 every 30 months (or $3.99/ month)
• The 40% off VPN Plus + three months free offer is billed at $71.88 every 15 months (or $4.79/month)

Our Proton Unlimited Black Friday offer renews at standard pricing ($191.76 for 24 months or $7.99/month) once the subscription period of 24 months is over.

If I upgrade my Proton VPN Plus one-month plan with the special Black Friday offer, what happens to my existing paid plan?

If you already have a paid Proton VPN Plus one-month plan and take advantage of this promotion, your new plan will replace your one. We will apply the unused balance of your existing subscription as a proration credit that will reduce the cost of your upgrade at checkout. This proration credit is applied on top of the special Black Friday discounted offer.

How are the discounts for this year’s Proton VPN Black Friday year-end offers calculated?

The discount percentages are based on the standard monthly $9.99 pricing for a VPN Plus plan and the $11.99 monthly pricing for a Proton Unlimited plan.

Do you have professional or enterprise plans?

Yes, we offer Mail Essentials, Business, and Enterprise plans to protect your business. To find out more, please get in touch with our Customer Success team.

Can I combine the Proton VPN year-end offer with other offers or discounts?

No, this offer cannot be combined with other offers or discounts available on Proton VPN, Proton Mail, or Proton Drive plans.

The post Black Friday 2022 year-end offer: 50% off + six months free (now over) appeared first on Proton VPN Blog.

We’re pleased to announce Stealth, a new, undetectable VPN protocol that can bypass most firewalls and VPN blocking methods. You’ll be able to bypass advanced VPN blocks, access censored sites, and communicate with people on social media, even if your government is trying to restrict access.

Why is Stealth needed?

In 2017, we launched Proton VPN because there was no trustworthy, reliable, and freely available VPN service. Our motivation was simple. Because our services, such as Proton Mail, play a crucial role in ensuring freedom and privacy worldwide, we knew authoritarian governments would eventually try to block them.

But with Proton VPN, people can bypass those blocks and continue using Proton Mail. Over the past few years, Proton VPN has become an essential tool, helping ensure the free flow of information for tens of millions of people during crises and wars around the world.

Since we launched Proton VPN, we’ve continuously worked on technology to bypass surveillance and censorship. For example, in 2017, we launched Secure Core VPN, which provides greater privacy than typical VPN services.

In 2020, we launched alternative routing, which bypasses VPN blocks by re-routing our connections over other hard-to-trace paths. Finally, in 2021, we released VPN Accelerator, a unique technology that provides connection speeds that are up to 400% faster, which is critically important for users in far-flung regions with slower internet.

As we have stepped up our efforts to build a more censorship-resistant VPN, authoritarian governments have also stepped up their efforts to block VPNs. Traditional VPN protocols (such as OpenVPN, IKEv2, and WireGuard) are relatively easy to recognize on a network. And as deep packet inspection (DPI) technology becomes more widespread, it will be easier and easier for authoritarian governments to detect and block VPNs using these protocols.

For years there have been various projects to try to obfuscate existing VPN protocols, but many of them are hacks on top of existing protocols that unfortunately no longer work very well.

We designed our Stealth protocol from the ground up to not have these issues. With Stealth enabled, your Proton VPN connection will be almost completely undetectable.

Stealth is available on all Proton VPN plans, including our Free plan, because everyone deserves online freedom. For now, you can use Stealth on our Android, macOS, and iOS apps.

How do I use Stealth?

To activate Stealth, open the Proton VPN app on your device.

• On Android,  tap ☰ →  Settings → Advanced → Protocol and choose Stealth.
• On iOS and iPadOS, tap Settings → Security options → Protocol and choose Stealth.
• On macOS, ProtonVPN in the macOS taskbar → Preferences → Connection → Protocol and select Stealth from the dropdown menu. 

Stealth is not yet available on our Windows or Linux apps.

Learn more about changing VPN protocols

How does the Stealth VPN protocol work?

Stealth uses obfuscation to hide your VPN connection from censors. The general idea is to make VPN traffic look like “normal” traffic — or common HTTPS connections. Stealth does this by using obfuscated TLS tunneling over TCP. This is different from most popular VPN protocols that typically use UDP, making them easier to detect and block. Without going into too much detail, Stealth also establishes VPN connections in a specific and unique way that avoids alerting internet filters.

Despite these obfuscation features, the Stealth VPN protocol is also optimized for high performance and is compatible with our VPN Accelerator technology. Coupled with our lightweight internals, Stealth can achieve higher performance than older obfuscated VPN protocols that are generally built on top of OpenVPN over TCP.

The fight continues

We want to thank the members of the Proton community who helped us test the Stealth VPN protocol over the last couple of months. They live under restrictive censorship regimes, and Stealth would have been impossible to develop without their assistance. Thank you.

However, in the constantly evolving battle for online freedom, our work is not finished. Accordingly, we designed Stealth to be an extensible and adaptable VPN protocol that is flexible enough to meet new challenges.

The cause of freedom has no borders, and we must stand together for it to succeed. Tools like Proton VPN play a vital role in keeping the internet free. Our investment in technologies like Stealth is part of our commitment to provide internet privacy to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay.

Proton VPN will always be free, but if you would like to support our mission to keep the internet free and open to all, you can subscribe to a paid plan which offers even faster speeds and premium features.

P.S. We want to say thanks to the hundreds of Proton VPN community members who suggested names for our new protocol. Your top choice was Neutrino, which we liked a lot because of the connection to physics. And neutrinos can pass through all matter, making it even more appropriate. 

Unfortunately, we felt this name might cause confusion with a Web3 project, so we picked Stealth instead. This was another popular community suggestion, and its meaning is more obvious to those less familiar with physics.

The post Defeat censorship with Stealth, our new VPN protocol appeared first on Proton VPN Blog.