Two leading cybersecurity companies, Nord Security and Surfshark, have officially finalized their partnership agreement, stating that their merger will "open new technical knowledge-sharing opportunities and enable more focused market diversification".
The companies will continue to exist as two separate brands, leaving their customers with a choice of services while still staying loyal to their respective fans and subscribers. Although the figures have not been discussed publicly, the transaction could easily eclipse Kape's acquisition of ExpressVPN in September 2021 for nearly $1 billion.
Separately together
Nord Security clarified publically: This is not an acquisition, Nord Security is not buying Surfshark, this is a merger
A few days before the official announcement that the two companies were to merge, some news websites shared their suspicion that the two companies had actually hatched from the same Lithuanian business alma mater, Tesonet. This sparked speculations about a merger even before the official announcement. It turned out that the two companies had discussed the collaboration halfway through 2021, before finalizing the agreement on February 1, 2022.
Both companies showed great respect towards each other, sharing similar aspirations towards "new technical knowledge-sharing opportunities" and enabling "more focused market diversification". They also stated an expectation that both NordVPN and Surfshark would eventually benefit from their joined technological efforts.
This strategic business move will serve as a springboard towards more rapid development and innovation while maintaining the uniqueness of both brands that customers learned to appreciate over many years.
Expectations
It seems like the whole VPN industry is following the ongoing trend of consolidation, which has become a necessity amidst the increasing number of cybersecurity threats. We’ve seen the recent Kape Technologies acquisition of ExpressVPN, as well as the merger between Encrypt.me and StrongVPN.
Consolidations in the global consumer cybersecurity market indicate the industry's maturity. They also bring new competitive challenges. Nord Security and Surfshark joining forces will set the ground to scale in different digital security dimensions, which is necessary to meet the growing requirements of our customers.
Both NordVPN and Surfshark made it into our top VPN Services to use in 2022, although NordVPN is three places higher on the list – mostly thanks to its watertight privacy, exceptional unblocking power, and stellar speeds. But we expect even greater results from both providers in the future.
Separately, these two are well-rounded and trustworthy VPN services, and together… they could move cybersecurity mountains. We do, however, hope that NordVPN will strive to level its prices with those of its partner Surfshark, at least to a degree (though not at the cost of compromising the quality of its service).
More about Nord Security and NordVPN
Nord Security is an online privacy and security conglomerate founded in 2012 in Panama. The company currently has over 1000 employees, helping approximately 15 million users reclaim their online privacy worldwide. It encompasses the next-gen password manager NordPass, encrypted cloud storage NordLocker, the multi-layered security system for companies NordLayer, and a freemium VPN service Atlas VPN. But, the largest and, in this case, probably the most relevant Nord Security product is VPN titan NordVPN.
NordVPN
NordVPN is a top Virtual Private Network provider that, by encrypting your traffic and changing your IP address, enables you to unblock and enjoy almost any site or online service privately. It has thousands of lightning-fast servers in over 60 countries worldwide, which is why we at ProPrivacy, often recommend it even for the most demanding online activities like streaming, gaming, and downloads of super-large files.
I use NordVPN whenever I need to access new movies or series on Netflix (that aren't yet available in the Croatian catalog) because I can rely on it to unblock anything in only a couple of seconds.
NordVPN has a strict no-logs policy and offers top-notch privacy features, like a kill-switch and obfuscation (hidden servers), which makes it one of the most secure VPNs on the market. On top of that, it offers exclusive services like Tor over VPN and the latest and greatest WireGuard protocol to increase your online security even more. NordVPN has shown its users that it’s constantly seeking innovations and improvements – a fact further reiterated by the Surfshark merger.
More about Surfshark
Surfshark is another prominent VPN and cybersecurity brand, launched in 2018 in the British Virgin Islands. The company is notably younger than Nord Security, however, this makes all its achievements even more impressive – Surfshark has established a place among the top-level players in less than four years.
Surfshark employs roughly 200 people, and it's dedicated to delivering users the most up-to-date service by coming up with the latest solutions and providing cutting-edge features. The Surfshark One bundle comes with antivirus, a search tool for private surfing, and an alert system that notifies you of any potential data leaks. But, the same as Nord, Surfshark has mostly built its fame thanks to its award-winning VPN.
Surfshark VPN
Similar to Nord, Surfshark has over 3,200 in over 65 countries around the world, ensuring great coverage and unblocking power. Surfshark is consistently fast according to our daily speed tests which makes it a great choice for streaming, gaming, and other bandwidth-intensive online activities.
Privacy-wise, Surfshark doesn’t lag much behind Nord. Surfshark is registered in the British Virgin Islands (a very privacy-conscious country), and it meets our expectations as a no-logs VPN. Its technical security is also top-notch, with a wealth of advanced privacy and security features on offer such as double-hop VPN (that routes your traffic through two VPN servers) and split-tunneling. On top of that, Surfshark is cheaper than NordVPN (though not if you’re paying month-by-month) and has a slightly more beginner-friendly interface.
And although Surfshark still has fewer subscribers than Nord and its Mac client isn't as full-featured, we expect great things from this brand in the future, especially now that it’s combining forces with Nord.