Independent auditors confirm top VPN’s privacy claims
Leading accounting firm Deloitte Romania has verified that CyberGhost VPN handles your data correctly and says it should. The audit takes a deep dive into the provider’s system and privacy infrastructure while verifying that it never logs your identifiable information, as stated in its privacy policy.
This is the second time since 2022 that the popular VPN provider has successfully scrutinized its no-logs claims with an independent audit, maintaining its position as one of the best VPNs on the market.
CyberGhost 2024 audit
CyberGhost promises to implement several protection measures to ensure that its VPN servers never collect user logs. For starters, all services run in containers which, the provider claims, are temporary in nature. This means that it has no persistent disk storage associated with it.
CyberGhost also promises that all of its VPN servers run on a RAM-only system. This infrastructure ensures that once the server loses power, all associated data is immediately lost. Basic information about hardware usage and a rough estimate of how many users are connected to the same servers are the only data the provider records – in accordance with market standards.
Auditors at Deloitte inspected all relevant IT systems, including CyberGhost VPN servers, their distribution and the Dedicated IP token-based system, to verify that their configuration and implementation coincided with the description provided by the company. They also look at how the privacy policy claims are implemented for user access, change management, and other basic usability functionality.
On January 31, 2024, Deloitte confirmed that CyberGhost’s privacy- and log-free infrastructure is working as expected. “Nothing has come to our attention that leads us to believe that the configuration of the IT systems and the management of supporting IT activities by CyberGhost have not been prepared in accordance with CyberGhost’s description,” auditors wrote.
“User trust is a huge factor for any security and privacy organization. Every time you connect to a CyberGhost server, it is our responsibility to ensure that your traffic is encrypted and your data is safe,” said a CyberGhost VPN spokesman. “By having expert third parties audit our services, our users can be absolutely confident that our no-logs policy means exactly what it says on the label.”
Unlike other competitors, the provider has locked up the audit behind a subscription to their service. So while all subscribers can view the full report through the CyberGhost customer portal, I recommend taking advantage of it 45 day money back guarantee if you want to read it without committing the money.
No-log VPNs: Why is it important?
At this point you may be wondering: why should I care whether or not my VPN records user data? Well, you should if you care about your privacy.
While some logs of basic data, such as the number of users connecting to the same server and the email address associated with a user’s account, are unavoidable, a no-logs VPN is your guarantee that no personal data or usage information is ever recorded . That’s exactly why we at Ny Breaking strongly believe that a strict no-logs policy should be among your top priorities when signing up for a new VPN service.
This means that if, for example, a malicious hacker or government manages to obtain this data, none of your sensitive information will be leaked because the details simply do not exist.
The importance of this feature has already been proven in real life when Swedish authorities were left empty-handed last year after an unclear police raid on Mullvad’s servers. Another provider, Private Internet Access, does too proved his claims without logs in courtnot once but twice.
“Transparency is at the forefront of everything we do,” CyberGhost wrote in a blog post. “As we continually strive to improve our service and provide you with peace of mind in the face of evolving digital threats, we will conduct regular audits.”
We test and assess VPN services in the context of legal recreational use. For example:
1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).
2. Protect your online security and strengthen your online privacy abroad.
We do not support or tolerate the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated, paid for content is not endorsed or condoned by Future Publishing.