A virtual private network can help hide your browsing activity, but it won’t prevent you from clicking on a fake banking link or downloading a malicious file.
NordVPN’s answer is to make its VPN program do more than encrypt your connection. The company announced Wednesday that it is bringing its antivirus features closer to its VPN platform, as NordVPN expands into a comprehensive digital privacy and security service.
According to Domininkas Virbickas, product director at NordVPN, the updated app is organized into three main areas: Connect, Protect and Monitor. Essentially, that means you can access NordVPN’s VPN, scam and phishing protection and monitoring tools like Dark Web Monitor from the same app, instead of managing them as separate products.
NordVPN says the change shows how online threats have moved beyond traditional malware and now include phishing pages, fake online stores, scam messages, identity theft and account takeover attempts.
Common antivirus software is primarily built around detecting malicious files. NordVPN says its approach is designed to stop most threats up front, before you give out your information, make a payment on a scam site or download something harmful.
Virbickas told CNET via email that the company’s next-generation antivirus uses two layers of detection. At the web level, URLs and domains are scanned in real-time using threat intelligence feeds, rules-based systems and machine learning models designed for specific threats, including phishing URL detection and scam pattern recognition. When something reaches the device, Virbickas said the second layer uses file scanning powered by machine learning models trained to identify malware before it can launch.
“The difference is not only what is received, but when,” said Virbickas. “The goal is to prevent injury before the user has to deal with cleaning.”
Today’s scams are built on deception
Online threats no longer rely entirely on malicious files but instead rely on deception, Virbickas said. Users are often tricked into providing credentials, banking information or other sensitive data through fake websites, fake messages, scam calls (which rely on deception and impersonation) or other forms of social engineering.
“People still use the word ‘antivirus’ as a shorthand for digital security, but the threats they need to protect against have changed dramatically,” said NordVPN CTO Marijus Briedis in the announcement. “Modern security must address the real risks people face online today, from phishing and scams to malicious reporting.”
The company said its security technology blocked 4.8 million threat incidents in April, a figure that includes malware, phishing, scams, malicious websites and other dangerous or suspicious content that users encounter.
As data collection on the Internet increases, privacy is more important than ever. Virbickas said NordVPN’s privacy approach revolves around “collecting the minimum signal needed to make a threat decision,” and inspecting what’s happening locally on the device where possible. If server-based analysis is required, the data is stripped of any identifying information.
Not all features are included in every NordVPN plan. NordVPN’s current plans are basic, complete and premium, all with a 30-day money-back guarantee and the option to upgrade or add features online.
Putting multiple privacy and antivirus tools in one place can make online protection feel more fragmented, without requiring you to download separate apps. But a single app won’t protect you from a wide range of cybersecurity threats. Strong passwords, multi-factor authentication, software updates and a healthy suspicion of unusual links are still important.
