What you need to know
- Independent security researchers Cure53 have audited Surfshark VPN.
- No serious issues were found and less serious flaws were identified and confirmed to be fixed.
- This is Surfshark's first audit since 2018.
You need your VPN to be secure in order for it to serve the function of protecting your privacy, though you often have to take the service provider at its word that its infrastructure is up to scratch. That's no longer the case with Surfshark as it just underwent a security audit by independent researchers Cure53 where "no serious issues were detected".
Independent audits of this kind are undertaken periodically by the bigger, more reliable VPN providers in order to have third-party experts assess any flaws or vulnerabilities when it comes to security. Surfshark's last audit was back in 2018 which was one of the dings against it when we were ranking the best VPN providers. Having an up-to-date report is a huge plus for those looking for a secure VPN.
Cure53 was given access to five Surfshark VPN servers in March 2021 for its audit and made four security-relevant discoveries, all of which "resided in the realm of general weaknesses" with a severity level of Medium or below. This "should be interpreted as a good sign for the security and privacy properties of the Surfshark server and VPN configuration," according to Cure53.
Following its audit, Cure53 confirmed two of the four flaws as fixed with the other two also considered to have been appropriately handled.
Cure53's expert report confirms a good overall result and a "very solid security premise at Surfshark". The testing team also added that there is "no doubt that the Surfshark maintainers have a clear understanding of security and privacy challenges associated with being a VPN provider".
Surfshark CEO Vytautas Kaziukonis said:
"Having a secure network of thousands of servers is a big responsibility, so we needed to have an independent expert opinion on how we're doing. We made sure to quickly react to all the recommendations so today we can be even more confident of delivering on the security our customers expect."
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:
1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).
2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.
We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
