78 PCWorld APRIL 2020REVIEWS NORDVPN
decide where to connect. Two interface
options are a bit redundant, but it makes
space for both power users and novices.
The list in the left-hand rail is where most of
the power user advantages reside. Hover over
a country listing and click on the three dots to
the left of the country name. This reveals a
pop-up window where you can
choose the region of a country (if
applicable), as well as any of the
servers listed in that region.
If you choose to connect to
the U.S., for example, you’d pick
the “region,” which is really one of
a number of major cities such as
New York, Los Angeles, Chicago,
Denver, or Phoenix. Then you can
pick any of the servers listed there,
and each server in the list displays
its current load. If you don’t want
to drill down that deep, NordVPNpicks the fastest connection in the country of
your choice.
The first time you use NordVPN it asks if you
want to turn on the CyberSec feature. CyberSec
blocks ads and protects against malware and
phishing. If you ever want to turn it off you can
do so in Settings > General. This section also
has an internet kill switch, and an app kill switch.
The latter stops any app from connecting to the
internet if an active VPN connection drops,
while the former does that for the entire PC.
There are also options to go invisible on the
local area network, and a specialized auto-
connect feature. Auto-connect not only
connects you to the VPN automatically but lets
you customize that connection. You can, for
example automatically connect to a double VPN
or a specific country. You can also choose
whether to connect whenever the app starts or
only on “insecure” wireless. The ability toNORDVPN IN BRIEF
P2P allowed Yes. Dedicated servers
Business location Panama
Number of servers 5,500+
Number of country locations 57
Cost $84 (billed annually)
VPN Protocol OpenVPN (default)
Data encryption AES-256_GCM
Data authentication TLS 1.2 with 4096-bit DH
Handshake encryption SHA-512NordVPN with an active connection.