Google Play adds verified badge for VPNs, as NordVPN’s new trick bypasses blocks
Free VPN apps always look enticing, and no surprise that last year saw a surge in malicious apps posing as free VPNs, or virtual private network apps designed to bypass internet restrictions, many of which turned out to be malicious. Google is updating the Play Store listings of VPN apps with a new verification badge that will distinguished an approved VPN app from the rest. Popular VPN app NordVPN has also released a new update for its platform, adding a unique protocol that’ll allow it to bypass networks that typically block VPN connections.
Google says there will be a “verified” on the Play Store listing page, something that a VPN app will only achieve after certain standards that Google has detailed, are met. On its part, they list certain criteria that an app needs to meet, which includes a a Mobile Application Security Assessment (MASA) Level 2 validation, an organisation developer account type, target API level requirements, at least 10,000 install with 250 reviews and must have been published on Google Play for at least 90 days. At this time, NordVPN, hide.me, and Aloha have received this badge.
“This new badge is designed to highlight apps that prioritise user privacy and safety, help users make more informed choices about the VPN apps they use, and build confidence in the apps they ultimately download. This badge complements existing features such as the Google Play Store banner for VPNs and Data Safety section declaration in the Play Store,” note JJ Zou and Scott Lin, Product Managers at Google, in a statement.
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At the time of writing this HT could not see the Verified badging on the Play Store listings of NordVPN, hide.me, and Aloha in India, across there devices including the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, the Vivo X200 Pro and the OnePlus 13.
In November last year, online security firm Kaspersky noted that the number of users encountering apps that pose as free VPNs increased by 2.5 times, between just Q2 and Q3 of 2024. There are several which saw a number of downloads before they were found out—OkoVPN, MaskVPN, DewVPN, PaladinVPN, ProxyGate, ShieldVPN, and ShineVPN, to name a few.
“There is a growing demand for VPN apps across all platforms, including smartphones and computers. Users tend to believe that if they find a VPN app in an official store, like Google Play, it is safe and can be used to get content that is originally unavailable at their location. And they think it is even better if this VPN service is free! However, this often ends up being a trap, as recent cases and our statistics showing a surge in malicious VPN app encounters prove,” Vasily Kolesnikov, Security Expert at Kaspersky, noted at the time.
Popular VPN app NordVPN has added the NordWhisper protocol to the app across Windows, Android and Linux, which will be able to bypass restrictions that networks often deploy to restrict the use of VPN apps. Compared to traditional VPN protocols such as OpenVPN and WireGuard, NordWhisper works differently in the sense that it tried to mimic the behaviours of regular web traffic to make it difficult for network filters to identify the protective layer to a user’s internet presence. Much like how the web tunnel methodology works, which the Tor Browser also introduced early last year.
“We saw the need for a solution for users unable to connect to NordVPN in restrictive environments. This problem often results in disrupted work and limited access to essential services,” the company notes in a statement. They also add, “However, while NordWhisper works great with network filters, it may be slower than other protocols in some circumstances due to the technology it uses. So if you’re connected to a regular network, we recommend sticking to other protocols.”
For now, availability of NordWhisper on more platforms including iOS and macOS remains unclear.
