NordVPN - Military Audit: Domain Audit

Direct Defence Contracting & Procurement

No NordVPN or Nord Security contracts with IMOD, IDF, Israel Prison Service, or Israeli Border Police have been publicly identified ¹²³.

NordVPN’s publicly listed customer database (Apps Run The World) names only three confirmed commercial and government customers: State Military Reservation (US National Guard site, Virginia Beach, VA, 2020), Emory University Hospital (US, 2008), and Stanley Steamer (US professional services, 2016) ⁴.

NordVPN operates no registered corporate entity in Israel. Confirmed corporate locations include Lithuania (Vilnius HQ), the Netherlands (Nord Security B.V./Cyberspace B.V., Amsterdam), Panama (Nordvpn S.A./Tefincom S.A.), the UK (NordSec Ltd., London), and the US (Nord Security Inc., Delaware) ¹⁵⁶.

NordVPN does not appear in the UN OHCHR A/HRC/60/19 settlement enterprise database, which comprises 158 companies as of September 2025 ⁷⁸.

NordVPN does not appear in Francesca Albanese’s A/HRC/59/23 report (July 2025, §§28–47), which names approximately 48 corporations including Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, IBM, Palantir, Elbit, Lockheed Martin, Airbnb, Booking Holdings, Caterpillar, Volvo, BP, and Barclays ².

NordVPN is not named in PAX Companies Arming Israel and Their Financiers (June 2024), which focuses on six arms manufacturers (Boeing, General Dynamics, Leonardo, Lockheed Martin, RTX, Rolls-Royce) and financial institutions ⁹.

No Israeli Ministry of Defence, IDF, or Israeli government tender records publicly identify NordVPN or NordLayer as a supplier or tender participant ¹⁰.

Dual-Use Products & Tactical Variants

No mil-spec, tactical, ruggedised, or government-graded product variants of NordVPN are manufactured or marketed ¹⁰.

The Nord Security product portfolio consists of NordVPN (consumer VPN), NordPass (password manager), NordLocker (encrypted cloud storage), NordLayer (business network access security), NordStellar (threat exposure management), Saily (eSIM), and Coveron (MDR), none of which are marketed as mil-spec or defence-graded ¹⁰.

NordVPN’s NordLynx protocol (WireGuard-based, double-NAT architecture, approximately 256-bit symmetric keys using peer-reviewed cryptographic primitives) is classified as mass-market encryption under US BIS Export Administration Regulations (EAR), qualifying as ECCN 5A992/5D992 ¹¹¹²¹³.

Standard consumer VPN products are not classified as defence articles. No BIS SNAP-R export licence records for NordVPN to Israeli military end-users have been publicly identified ¹¹¹²¹³.

NordVPN’s post-quantum encryption upgrade, launched January 2026, uses the NIST-standardised ML-KEM algorithm (FIPS 203) ¹¹¹².

The post-quantum implementation adds an optional user toggle to the NordLynx protocol, and under current BIS EAR rules (post-2021 reform), mass-market encryption products using NIST-standardised symmetric algorithms qualify as ECCN 5D992.c with no export licence required for most destinations including Israel ¹¹¹².

No evidence of export licence applications for post-quantum encryption products to Israeli military end-users has been publicly identified ¹¹¹².

Heavy Machinery, Construction & Infrastructure

No public evidence identified.

NordVPN is a software service company; it does not manufacture heavy machinery, construction equipment, or physical infrastructure products, making this section inapplicable to NordVPN’s product category.

No NordVPN or Nord Security equipment, vehicles, or machinery has been documented in NGO investigations, UN reports, or media reports as being used in construction, maintenance, or demolition activity within Israeli settlements, the separation barrier, military installations, or occupied territories.

Supply Chain Integration with Defence Primes

No verified supply relationships between NordVPN or Nord Security and Israeli defence prime contractors (Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israel Military Industries) have been publicly documented ³¹⁴¹⁵.

NordVPN does not appear in Who Profits, AFSC Investigate, BankTrack, or Don’t Buy Into Occupation databases, which track supply chain integration with settlement and military activity ¹⁶.

The MintPress News investigation “Exposed: How Israeli Spies Control Your VPN” (2024) names Kape Technologies (owner of ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, Private Internet Access, and ZenMate) and Aura as Israeli-linked VPN companies ¹⁶.

NordVPN is not named in the MintPress investigation, which specifically identifies Koby Menachemi (Unit 8200) as Kape co-founder and Ido Erlichman (Duvdevan Unit) as Kape CEO ¹⁶.

Logistical Sustainment & Base Services

No public evidence identified.

NordVPN is a software subscription service; it does not provide catering, transport, fuel supply, waste management, facilities maintenance, or freight forwarding services, making this section inapplicable to NordVPN’s product category.

No NordVPN or Nord Security service contracts to IDF bases, military training facilities, detention centres, or security installations in the West Bank, Golan Heights, East Jerusalem, or the Negev have been publicly documented.

Munitions, Weapons Systems & Strategic Platforms

No public evidence identified.

NordVPN is a consumer VPN service; it does not manufacture small arms, artillery systems, armoured vehicles, tactical drones, naval vessels, munitions, explosive ordnance, or strategic defence platforms, making this section inapplicable to NordVPN’s product category.

No sub-system or critical component supply by NordVPN to lethal or strategic systems (guidance electronics, fire-control systems, radar, propulsion, or warhead casings) has been publicly documented.

Export Licensing, Regulatory & Legal History

NordVPN’s encryption products qualify as mass-market encryption under US BIS EAR (ECCN 5A992/5D992.c) ¹¹¹²¹³.

No US BIS SNAP-R export licence records for NordVPN to Israeli military end-users have been publicly identified ¹¹¹²¹³.

No SIBAT defence export directory listings, EU or UK export licence decisions, or Israeli DECA export control records for NordVPN products to Israeli military or security end-users have been publicly identified ³.

NordVPN has not been named in any ICC or ICJ proceedings related to Israeli military activity, as court proceedings naming technology companies in connection with Israeli operations (South Africa v. Israel ICJ, Nicaragua v. Germany ICJ, ICC Gaza investigations) reference Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Palantir, Elbit, and Caterpillar but not NordVPN.

Nord Security is a privately held venture-backed company with investors including Warburg Pincus, Novator Ventures, General Catalyst, and Burda Principal Investments ¹⁷¹⁸¹⁹.

No SEC 10-K, 20-F, or 8-K filings exist for Nord Security in any US regulatory disclosure ¹⁷¹⁸¹⁹.

No OECD National Contact Point complaints have been filed against NordVPN or Nord Security concerning Israeli operations, and the OECD Watch complaint database contains no NordVPN entries.

Civil Society Scrutiny & Documented Investigations

NordVPN does not appear in the Who Profits (whoprofits.org) database of companies involved in Israeli settlement and military activity ¹⁶.

NordVPN does not appear in the AFSC Investigate (investigate.afsc.org) database ¹⁶.

NordVPN has not been cited by B’Tselem, Amnesty International, or Human Rights Watch in any published report on Israel/Palestine.

NordVPN has not been the subject of organised boycott, divestment, or exclusion campaigns specifically related to Israeli defence sector activities, and Reddit discussions on BDS and NordVPN note NordVPN’s Lithuanian domicile and lack of Israeli ownership as distinguishing it from Israeli-linked VPN companies ¹⁶.

NordVPN’s nonprofit programme has donated over 9,500 VPN licences since May 2018, including over 2,500 in 2024 alone, with confirmed named recipients including Students For Liberty, Open Rights Group, Thesus Foundation, WfID (Myanmar), Digital Rights Frontlines (South Sudan), Helping Hand Welfare Society, and TUSO Aid Foundation ²⁰.

No Israeli military, FIDF, or settlement NGO recipients have been named in NordVPN’s nonprofit programme disclosures ²⁰.

NordVPN’s corporate responsibility disclosures (2024 and 2025 Impact Reports) focus on UN Sustainable Development Goals, renewable energy commitments, and community donations to AccessNow, EDRi, and Open Rights Group, with no defence contracts, Israeli military customers, or Israeli operations disclosed ³¹⁴¹⁵.

NordVPN donated 700 product accounts to human rights activists, NGOs, and independent journalists in support of Ukraine ²¹.

The Tesonet co-founders Tomas Okmanas and Eimantas Sabaliauskas received the title of National Patron from the Lithuanian Government for a donation exceeding €1 million to the public institution Blue/Yellow, designated for Ukraine humanitarian aid ²².

No FIDF or Israeli military charitable linkage has been identified for NordVPN’s founders or donation programmes ²¹²².

Co-founders Tomas Okmanas and Eimantas Sabaliauskas are confirmed Lithuanian nationals with no identified IDF service, Unit 8200 membership, or Israeli defence industry board positions, and their documented activities are confined to Vilnius-based tech entrepreneurship (Tesonet startup accelerator, which produced Hostinger, Oxylabs, and Surfshark), Nord Security leadership, and venture fund limited partnerships (Creandum, Plural, Moonfire) ²³²⁴.

Jonas Karklys (Co-founder, CEO of NordPass and NordLocker) has no identified Israeli military or defence industry affiliations ²³.

Donatas Tamelis (Managing Director, NordLayer B2B division) has no identified defence-industry affiliations, and his documented activities are confined to NordLayer business development and partnership announcements including CrowdStrike ²³.

Warburg Pincus (lead investor, $100M+ in the 2022 round at $1.6B valuation; $3B valuation in 2023) previously held a 21.3% stake in Cyren, an Israeli-domiciled cybersecurity company (Herzliya, Israel; TASE/Nasdaq: CYRN) as of 2017 ²⁵.

This Warburg Pincus investment in Cyren predates the Nord Security investment by approximately five years and represents an independent portfolio company, and Cyren’s business has since been wound down with Warburg Pincus no longer holding an active stake ²⁵.

Warburg Pincus’s European Defence Investment Platform (announced April 2026) is Europe-focused and contains no Israeli defence primes among named portfolio companies ²⁶.

Tefincom S.A. directors are Cyprus-based corporate service providers (Marios Papeloizou and Angelos Hadjimichael of Christodoulides & Papaloizou & Matsas Law Firm, Nicosia; Alina Gatsaniouk of Globalgen Cyprus Limited), with no Israeli nationals or Israeli-registered entities on the board of any Nord Security entity ⁵.

NordVPN operates VPN servers in Israel (approximately 20+ servers in Tel Aviv) for consumer VPN access, which reflects standard consumer app distribution rather than military-adjacent supply or settlement activity ²⁷.

DoRoyal is confirmed as an authorised NordVPN reseller, and no evidence indicates that DoRoyal is physically located in or operates from West Bank settlements ⁵.

No NordVPN authorised reseller, distributor, or corporate operation has been documented within specific West Bank settlements (Ma’ale Adumim, Ariel, Beitar Illit, or others), East Jerusalem settlements, or the Golan Heights.

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