NordSec: NordVPN Shelters Under a New Umbrella With a New Friend

A double announcement today from NordVPN, one of our favorite VPN services as well as probably the best known name of the industry. Not only will it be doing a mild rebranding into NordSec, it will also be taking on security industry veterans as advisers, the first billed being Troy Hunt, of Have I Been Pwned fame.

Currently, the NordVPN brand encompasses the VPN — no surprise there — as well as encryption software NordLocker and password manager NordPass. From now on, though, NordVPN will be just one more leg, albeit a fat, trunk-like one, holding up the NordSec brand. 

Though it may not seem like the biggest change, it does mark a massive shift in the way the company sees itself. While up to now it was content merely putting out a VPN, it has now seemingly changed gears to wanting to take on cybersecurity as a whole. Or, at least, that’s what some of the language in the press release intimates. 

Telling is, however, how NordPass has been left out of the announcement. The password manager didn’t do as well as expected against entrenched competitors like Dashlane and the like, and Nord seems to have lost interest in it; for now, at least.

Advising NordSec

As for the second bit of news, we’re definitely interested in the role people like Troy Hunt will play within NordSec. While corporations are rife with advisers, usually hired to make “about” pages look good, we doubt somebody as active as Hunt will let himself be relegated to such a role, even if that were NordSec’s intent.

It also cleans up Nord’s image a bit. While there are few real concerns concerning whether NordVPN is safe to use, rumors have been swirling in the darker recesses of the internet — reddit, basically — saying that some nefarious players are behind the VPN service. However, two audits and now the taking on of Hunt should put the kibosh on this scuttlebutt.

Final Thoughts

We have a feeling that NordSec will have more big names to roll out at us in their advisory team, and we look forward to more announcements of that nature, as well as any new products the company has lined up. What do you think will be the next big thing to come out of the NordSec stables? Let us know in the comment below and, as always, thank you for reading.