Mixnet startup, Nym Technologies, has announced the launch of its best VPN contender, which aims to completely mask its users details and preserve their privacy.
NymVPN, which is currently in the beta phase of development, uses zero-knowledge cryptography at signup. This means users can sign up for the service without ever disclosing any personal information, which has led to Nym Technologies dubbing it "the world's most private VPN."
The VPN itself also runs on a decentralized mixnet, meaning that it guards against metadata tracking and surveillance, as well as anonymizing user's identities and payments.
"Beyond all traditional VPN protections"
Discussing NymVPN's privacy in a press release, Nym Technologies said: "Unfortunately the large majority of VPNs, despite their name and promises, do not actually protect our privacy. All advanced data tracking systems need to do is analyze data coming in and out of a VPN’s centralized servers to determine who is doing what."
While this is a promising start, it's yet to be seen whether it will end up on our most secure VPN list.
Beta testing is available across two different modes of NymVPN: "fast" and "anonymous". In Nym Technologies' words, "fast" is for "users prioritizing speed" while "anonymous" goes "beyond all traditional VPN protections."
While fast mode routes traffic through two servers – similar to how NordVPN and others implement double VPN – anonymous mode routes it through five servers, adds network noise (a technique which makes it difficult for data tracking to tell what you're doing online) as well as using Tor-based Onion encryption.
As it is in beta testing, NymVPN is now publicly available to test for free. If you feel like taking either mode for a spin, you can sign up here.
