Surfshark’s CTO Donatas Budvytis introduces Surfshark Nexus
Cybersecurity company Surfshark launches a consumer VPN innovation Surfshark Nexus, based on SDN (Software-Defined Networking) technology. A unique solution in a consumer VPN industry connects users to not only one server but an entire network of servers and then routes them to a chosen location. Surfshark Nexus will help to optimize user traffic to be faster, more stable, increasingly secure, and private. Moreover, connecting all of the company’s servers into a single Nexus network will allow Surfshark to roll out new features such as IP Rotator, IP Randomizer, and Dynamic MultiHop.
“Since the very first days of Surfshark, we were on a mission to provide our users with the best and the most humanized VPN option on the market,” says Donatas Budvytis, the CTO of Surfshark. “Each traditional consumer VPN functions more like a list of separate virtual private servers and not a network. Knowing this, we put our minds and resources into creating a solution that would put N (network) into a VPN. By introducing Surfshark Nexus, we will be able to greatly improve users’ online privacy and revolutionize the consumer VPN industry.”
Surfshark Nexus network is designed to provide a no-thrills experience by ensuring that its users stay continuously connected to the secure, private, and performant VPN network. The Nexus adds more privacy to its users by pooling them up in the entire network and not only specific servers. The most significant benefit for privacy is that the solution has a rotating IP feature that changes the exit IP addresses every 5 to 10 minutes without disconnecting the user from the VPN.
The new technology and its upcoming features will become available to anyone using Surfshark VPN. Starting with the IP rotator, all features are planned to be rolled out before 2023.
Surfshark’s CTO, Donatas Budvytis, explains the technical nuances of the new technology:
How does Surfshark Nexus differ from traditional consumer VPN technology?
In the case of traditional consumer VPN services where users connect to a specific server within a pool of servers, they don’t use the network but rather create a tunnel to one server of all their servers. If they want to change their IP, they must disconnect from that server to connect to another one. In the case of Nexus, the users connect to the entire network of servers and can use many different servers without disconnecting from the network.
What value does Surfshark Nexus create for a user?
Surfshark Nexus network solves the problems of traditional consumer VPN services. Firstly, it improves one’s privacy and security by continuously changing user IP addresses and connecting to different servers without disconnecting the user from Surfshark VPN. Secondly, it enables easier network maintenance as the users will no longer lose their connectivity due to server upgrades. Finally, Nexus opens up opportunities to develop new features such as an IP randomizer that can provide the user with multiple IP addresses to use simultaneously.
What are the key features and plans of Surfshark Nexus technology?
Today, Surfshark Nexus comes with an IP Rotator feature that automatically changes the user’s exit IP address in a chosen city location every 5 to 10 minutes without disconnecting the user from the VPN. IP Rotator solves privacy concerns of having the same IP address when connected to a VPN for a long time. The feature will rotate IP addresses in a specific location, country, region, or even globally, depending on the user’s preference.
Then, an IP Randomizer feature that is planned to be launched later will allow the users to use many different IP addresses at the same time while connecting to the internet. For example, different IP addresses for different websites.
Finally, a dynamic MultiHop that will be launched in the future will allow the users to choose their own VPN entry and exit locations in any way they like. For instance, enter the Nexus network via a chosen location A and exit via location B.
All of the planned features will roll out gradually throughout 2022 and 2023.
About Surfshark
Surfshark, a Gold winner at 2021 awards as the Most Innovative Security Service of the Year, is a privacy protection toolset developed to help its users control their online presence seamlessly. The main mission of Surfshark is to humanize online privacy protection and develop tools that protect users’ privacy beyond the realm of a virtual private network. Surfshark is one of very few VPNs which have been audited by independent security experts.
