ExpressVPN was sold to Kape. Are you safe?

Kape Technologies PLC, a company that changed its name from Crossrider to hide its past, has acquired the popular service ExpressVPN VPN. Express VPN is the fourth VPN company that Kape has acquired (CyberGhost VPN, Zenmate and Private Internet Access) in recent years.

ExpressVPN was a privately held company based in the British Virgin Islands. It has created its own Lightway protocol in which it has complete control.

Most of the features offered by the company are similar to those of other VPN services: ExpressVPN supports desktop and mobile applications, runs on servers located in 94 countries, does not limit bandwidth, allows P2P and does not hold logs, except for technical reasons.

ExpressVPN he said its acquisition by Kape Technologies PLC on the official blog of the company.

"Ανακοινώσαμε το σχέδιό μας να ενταχθούμε στην Kape Technologies, μια εταιρεία εισηγμένη στο Χρηματιστήριο του Λονδίνου, για να προστεθούμε στον σαφή παγκόσμιο ηγέτη στο ψηφιακό απόρρητο. Με την υποστήριξη και τους πόρους τους, θα είμαστε σε θέση να καινοτομήσουμε γρηγορότερα και να σας παρέχουμε protection από ένα ευρύτερο φάσμα απειλών. Μαζί, θα προωθήσουμε την τεχνολογία της ιδιωτικής ζωής, διατηρώντας σας σταθερά τον έλεγχο της ψηφιακής σας εμπειρίας ακόμη και όταν προκύπτουν νέες απειλές και προκλήσεις."

According to the announcement, ExpressVPN will remain a separate service and everything will remain as it is for the subscribers of the service.

Kape Technologies paid $ 936 million to acquire ExpressVPN, making the market the largest recorded deal on VPN services. Kape, for example, acquired Private Internet Access for one-tenth of the amount two years ago: $ 95,5 million.

TechRadar reports that the acquisition lifted the veil behind ExpressVPN's business figures. The company has over three million subscribers, which brought them "revenues of approximately $279,4 million in 2020, up 37% from 2019."

It seems that the lucrative VPN services are in the process of integration. Kape has acquired its fourth VPN company, making it one of the largest, if not the largest, subscriber VPN provider.

But the company has a dark past. When he was called Crossrider, he had a bad reputation for making money from potentially unwanted software bids (PuP). Security companies such as Malwarebytes classified Crossrider products as adware. According to reports, founder of the company was a former Israeli agent.

[Forbes] These Ex-Israeli Surveillance Agents Hijack Your Browser To Profit From Ads

It's unclear how much influence Kape Technologies has over ExpressVPN, Private Internet Access, or its other latest purchases. All state that the companies are independent of mother company.

Kape's previous activities, however, are a cause for concern. If you forget at some point, the question remains whether integration is good for VPN services in general but for all users worldwide.

Larger companies have more resources that could be used to improve standards and functionality. However, they can also be used to increase prices once they dominate the market.