NordVPN: what owners actually say

Multiple highly-upvoted HN commenters detail a NordVPN server breach where an attacker gained access to machines, with a leaked CA key that could allow MITM attacks. Commenters NordVPN's defence as inadequate, noting keys were not rotated at the time and the attacker was already on the machines.

Users openly question whether any VPN company—including NordVPN—can be honest about not logging. One commenter states flatly: 'I would question the honesty of any company which claims not to log.' Another disputes NordVPN's claim that DMCA compliance applies worldwide.

Commenters link NordVPN's parent company TesoNet to data mining operations and describe the broader VPN industry as 'rife with shady business practices.' One commenter alleges NordVPN was originating customer traffic on their backend in ways that are difficult to independently verify.

A former Netflix employee reported that whole-home VPN configuration made Netflix streaming inaccessible, and that bypassing the VPN for streaming traffic is 'incredibly difficult without hacking the client side code.'

A commenter notes NordVPN will approve virtually any YouTube sponsor spot, including ones deliberately designed to be unapprovable, suggesting lax oversight of who they associate with.

A small number of ProductHunt commenters praise the app's UX and design, noting it was built with community feedback from over 1,000 beta testers, and calling it visually appealing compared to alternatives.

HN commenters acknowledge the core value proposition: commercial VPNs are useful against US consumer ISPs that 'track and inject code whenever they feel like it,' protecting metadata and unencrypted non-HTTP traffic.

While some advocate self-hosted VPNs as superior, commenters concede that commercial VPNs like NordVPN offer non-zero benefits for users who want a proxy without managing their own infrastructure.