NordVPN launches new “revolutionary” censorship-resistant VPN protocol
Leading VPN provider, NordVPN, has just launched a “revolutionary” censorship-resistant VPN protocol as a response to greater online restrictions worldwide.
NordWhisper, the company explains, is designed to work against the most challenging network filtering techniques by mimicking regular web traffic. Despite the similarities, the new VPN protocol promises to differ from current VPN obfuscation solutions, ensuring a smoother and more consistent browsing experience.
NordVPN is rolling out NordWhisper gradually across its Windows, Android, and Linux apps, with more support expected for other platforms in due course.
How does NordWhisper work?
“We designed NordWhisper with our users in mind,” said Marijus Briedis, CTO at NordVPN. “It’s not just about getting around network restrictions; it’s about empowering people to work, communicate, and access essential services securely and freely, even in the most restrictive environments.”
Unlike traditional VPN protocols like OpenVPN or WireGuard, NordWhisper uses web tunnel technology designed to mimic normal web traffic. As per experts at Tor Browser who first released this technology, this method encapsulates the data in transit within standard HTTP packets. It essentially creates a hidden tunnel that can protect users’ privacy and allow them to bypass network restrictions that might block specific types of traffic.
Such an infrastructure promises to be more efficient than VPN obfuscation, “While standard protocols using obfuscation techniques are effective on networks that prevent access to essential services or public resources, NordWhisper steps in when VPN-specific blocks make connecting to these networks more challenging,” NordVPN explains in a blog post.
Increasingly more countries worldwide have been heavily restricting the internet, investing copious amounts in developing always more efficient network filter technologies. This has resulted in a need for new solutions to enable everyone to bypass advanced online restrictions and access the open internet – no matter where they’re browsing from.
You should use NordWhisper only when connecting to the internet from a highly restricted environment. That’s because this VPN protocol may slow down your internet connection due to the technology it uses.
NordWhisper has been rolled out for Windows, Android, and Linux VPN users only. The provider plans to expand support for other platforms over time and will continue upgrading the VPN protocol to be on top of changes in the network filtering landscape.
Once available, you’ll be able to manually select the option directly from the app’s settings by heading on VPN connection and tapping on the NordWhisper button.