<s>
Surfshark	B-Application
VPN	I-Application
service	O
is	O
a	O
digital	O
privacy	O
tool	O
provided	O
by	O
the	O
cybersecurity	O
company	O
,	O
Surfshark	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2021	O
Surfshark	B-Application
merged	O
with	O
Nord	O
Security	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Surfshark	B-Application
’s	O
headquarters	O
is	O
in	O
the	O
Netherlands	O
with	O
additional	O
offices	O
in	O
Lithuania	O
,	O
Poland	O
,	O
and	O
Germany	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Surfshark	B-Application
was	O
launched	O
in	O
2018	O
by	O
introducing	O
its	O
first	O
VPN	B-Application
application	O
for	O
iOS	O
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2018	O
,	O
Surfshark	B-Application
underwent	O
an	O
external	O
audit	O
by	O
a	O
German	O
cybersecurity	O
firm	O
Cure53	O
,	O
but	O
just	O
for	O
their	O
browser	O
extensions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Surfshark	B-Application
has	O
3,200	O
+	O
servers	O
in	O
100	O
countries	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Surfshark	B-Application
's	O
founding	O
is	O
opaque	O
,	O
as	O
the	O
company	O
was	O
first	O
headquartered	O
in	O
the	O
British	O
Virgin	O
Islands	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
all	O
publicly	O
disclosed	O
employees	O
of	O
Surfshark	B-Application
,	O
including	O
its	O
CEO	O
,	O
have	O
Lithuanian	O
names	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
fair	O
to	O
assume	O
that	O
the	O
operation	O
has	O
ties	O
to	O
the	O
Baltic	O
region	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
theory	O
is	O
supported	O
by	O
Surfshark	B-Application
's	O
parent	O
company	O
Nord	O
Security	O
having	O
received	O
funding	O
from	O
a	O
Lithuanian	O
startup	O
accelerator	O
and	O
having	O
an	O
office	O
located	O
in	O
Lithuania	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
September	O
2019	O
,	O
Surfshark	B-Application
launched	O
an	O
Android	O
app	O
called	O
Trust	O
DNS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
October	O
2019	O
,	O
Surfshark	B-Application
became	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
ten	O
VPN	B-Application
packages	O
to	O
receive	O
an	O
official	O
seal	O
of	O
approval	O
granted	O
by	O
an	O
independent	O
IT-Security	O
Institute	O
AV-TEST	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
July	O
2020	O
,	O
Surfshark	B-Application
announced	O
its	O
entire	O
server	O
network	O
is	O
running	O
on	O
RAM-only	O
servers	O
,	O
introduced	O
WireGuard	O
,	O
and	O
became	O
a	O
founding	O
member	O
of	O
the	O
VPN	B-Application
Trust	O
Initiative	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
in	O
2020	O
,	O
Surfshark	B-Application
was	O
named	O
the	O
best	O
VPN	B-Application
of	O
2020	O
by	O
CNN	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2021	O
,	O
Surfshark	B-Application
was	O
named	O
Best	O
VPN	B-Application
by	O
the	O
Trusted	O
Reviews	O
Awards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
mid-2021	O
,	O
Surfshark	B-Application
began	O
the	O
process	O
to	O
merge	O
with	O
their	O
competitor	O
Nord	O
Security	O
,	O
parent	O
company	O
of	O
the	O
popular	O
NordVPN	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
August	O
2022	O
,	O
Surfshark	B-Application
exclusively	O
partnered	O
with	O
digital	O
rights	O
watchdog	O
NetBlocks	O
for	O
greater	O
reporting	O
on	O
internet	O
shutdowns	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
2022	O
,	O
Surfshark	B-Application
closed	O
its	O
physical	O
servers	O
in	O
India	O
in	O
response	O
to	O
the	O
CERT-In	O
'	O
s	O
order	O
for	O
VPN	B-Application
companies	O
to	O
store	O
consumers’	O
personal	O
data	O
for	O
a	O
period	O
of	O
five	O
years	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
That	O
same	O
year	O
,	O
Surfshark	B-Application
released	O
Surfshark	B-Application
Nexus	O
,	O
together	O
with	O
Nord	O
Security	O
gained	O
the	O
Unicorn	O
status	O
,	O
released	O
Linux	O
GUI	O
,	O
reached	O
100	O
different	O
server	O
country	O
locations	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
included	O
in	O
CNET	O
's	O
2022	O
Best	O
Overall	O
VPN	B-Application
list	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
December	O
2019	O
,	O
Surfshark	B-Application
implemented	O
GPS-Spoofing	O
for	O
Android	O
,	O
allowing	O
users	O
to	O
hide	O
their	O
device	O
’s	O
physical	O
geo-location	O
by	O
changing	O
it	O
to	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
server	O
’s	O
locations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
its	O
applications	O
,	O
Surfshark	B-Application
uses	O
IKEv2	O
,	O
OpenVPN	O
and	O
WireGuard	O
tunneling	O
protocols	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
data	O
transferred	O
via	O
Surfshark	B-Application
servers	O
is	O
encrypted	O
using	O
an	O
AES-256-GCM	O
encryption	O
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Surfshark	B-Application
also	O
added	O
a	O
manual	O
WireGuard	O
connection	O
feature	O
in	O
August	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Surfshark	B-Application
VPN	I-Application
service	O
features	O
include	O
:	O
Kill	O
Switch	O
,	O
MultiHop	O
,	O
and	O
Bypasser	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
double	O
VPN	B-Application
Multihop	O
feature	O
routes	O
traffic	O
through	O
two	O
servers	O
instead	O
of	O
one	O
,	O
thereby	O
providing	O
better	O
security	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Surfshark	B-Application
's	O
Bypasser	O
is	O
a	O
VPN	B-Application
split	B-Application
tunneling	I-Application
feature	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
May	O
2022	O
,	O
Surfshark	B-Application
announced	O
Linux	O
GUI	O
,	O
added	O
real-time	O
protection	O
to	O
Surfshark	B-Application
Antivirus	O
&	O
added	O
a	O
pause	O
feature	O
to	O
the	O
VPN	B-Application
app	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
August	O
2022	O
,	O
Surfshark	B-Application
added	O
a	O
manual	O
WireGuard	O
connection	O
feature	O
.	O
</s>
