One of India’s most popular Virtual Private Network (VPN) providers, Surfshark, has followed in the footsteps of ExpressVPN and NordVPN by shutting down its servers in the country. Users would be able to access Indian websites even when using a VPN that is based in the UK or Singapore, as ExpressVPN plans to do with virtual Indian servers.
According to the corporation, which has a rigorous “no logs” policy, these new regulations are in direct conflict with the company’s basic values. When Surfshark was formed in 2011, the goal was to make using a virtual private network (VPN) as simple as possible for everyone. Gytis Malinauskas, Surfshark’s Head of Legal, states, “We will not compromise our principles or our technological basis because of the way our infrastructure has been structured to safeguard the privacy of our consumers.”
Quick Recap: Nord VPN India to shut its Indian servers after the new rule imposed
In advance of the new law’s effective date on June 27, the VPN service provider announced that all of its Indian servers will be shut down. Indian servers will continue to function as normal till this issue is resolved. Surfshark will, however, employ virtual servers to allow customers to connect to an Indian IP address when the Indian servers are gone. Surfshark users in India will have no difficulty connecting to places outside of India.
Since both ExpressVPN and NordVPN recently announced that they were shutting down their India servers as a result of the Indian government’s directive that requires every VPN service provider to store user data for the first five years of service, Surfshark has become the latest leading VPN service provider to quit the business in India.
Cybersecurity will only become worse as a result of the withdrawal of VPN services from India, according to Surfshark. According to the report, “Notably, VPN providers leaving Indian is not good for India’s growing IT sector.” Data from Surfshark indicates that of the 14.9 billion accounts that have been compromised since 2004, 254.9 million belong to Indians. 18 of every 100 Indian users had their personal contact information hacked, according to this report.
At the end of April 2022, Surfshark had over 3,200 servers spread over 65 countries, making it the largest VPN service provider in the Netherlands.
