NordVPN Double VPN Explained (All You Need to Know)
TechShielder

NordVPN Double VPN Explained (All You Need to Know)

It is apparent that everyone has concerns about the safety of accessing public internet domains. With the increase in cyber resources, cybersecurity continues to be a big part of the lives of individuals, corporate entities, and governments. A VPN aims to ensure everyone can connect to the internet without the fear of data theft. 

NordVPN is a longstanding VPN service provider that is heavily invested in securing its users’ safety. It continues to deliver excellent privacy and security features. This article takes a look at an advanced feature of NordVPN’s security structure–DoubleVPN. 

What Is Double VPN?

Double VPN is a security feature where a VPN service provider moves internet traffic through two separate VPN servers. Some other VPN services choose to call it MultiHop or DoubleHop. It is an advanced feature that VPN consumers use mostly in high censorship areas or when they need to send highly confidential data. 

In the process of moving traffic through two servers before reaching the destination, VPNs encrypt data twice, making it extremely hard for hackers to read data in transit. This adds to the security layers already present in VPN software. 

How Does NordVPN’s Double VPN Work?

Understanding how Double VPN works requires us to look at the typical process data streams go through to get to their destination. Regular IP masking takes your data through a single server and masks your IP address behind the server’s. 

Let’s look at the order of events in a regular VPN connection:

  1. At the click of a button, the VPN software establishes a secure tunnel between a user’s device and its server. 
  2. It encrypts data to be sent and transports it through the tunnel to the connected server. 
  3. The server decrypts data it receives from the user’s device and masks the IP address before transporting it to the final destination. 

When transporting data back to the user’s device, it is encrypted at the server’s end of the tunnel and decrypted at the user’s end.

NordVPN’s Double VPN works similarly only that two servers are involved. Let’s take a look at the process:

  1. The VPN software establishes a secure tunnel between a user’s device and the selected server.
  2. This server now establishes another secure tunnel with a second server. 
  3. It encrypts data to be sent and transports it through the tunnel to the server.
  4. The initial server receives data, encrypts it again before sending it to the second server, and masks the device’s IP address.
  5. The second server receives data, decrypts it before forwarding it to the final destination, and masks the second server’s IP address.
NordVPNs double VPN function in action.

This process makes it extremely difficult for anyone to steal data. Even if hackers unmask the second server’s IP address and try to intercept traffic, there is still another layer of encryption to deal with. It’s a foolproof way of ensuring maximum protection of data in transit. 

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Benefits of Using Double VPN 

The main benefit of using Double VPN is the added security layer. Journalists that handle sensitive data require this sort of protection. Despite hackers being unable to break 256-bit encryption, they can compromise data endpoints like servers. Double VPN ensures that compromising one VPN server will not be enough for hackers to have a field day with your data or see your original IP address. 

The other benefit of Double VPN is bypassing censorship in countries with severe restrictions. For example, users resident in a nation that permits only domestic IP addresses will require connecting to a VPN server in that country and then connecting to another in any country of choice. This will prevent ISPs from being able to see beyond the first server connection. 

When You Don’t Need Double VPN

Double VPN might not be ideal for everyday users trying to access public internet domains securely. Basic security features are usually enough to protect you from hackers and other malicious entities. NordVPN uses AES-256 encryption, along with several other advanced security features that protect users’ data. It is practically impossible for hackers to steal your data if you’re using a VPN, except you unknowingly give them access to it. 

The average VPN user does not need to use Double VPN because of the reduction in speed that comes with using double encryption and data passing through more than a single server. Streaming, gaming, and torrenting are activities that require high data rates. Using DoubleVPN while doing any of these activities will significantly make it less enjoyable.

Conclusion

While NordVPN’s Double VPN feature is a big positive on security and privacy, it significantly affects performance. The average VPN user should stick with regular server connections as VPNs provide adequate protection to secure users’ data. On the other hand, if you can readily accept the tradeoff between speed and security, Double VPN is suitable for you.