The leading cyber security company County has just revealed its “first ever” standards for VPN testing.
County, map for organization for anti-malware test standards, is an NGO established in 2008 to improve the quality of anti-malware testing methods. On February 19, 2025, the experts published the VPN performance test guidelines to help improve fair privacy and security for VPN assessments.
Regular security and privacy audits performed by independent experts have become a common practice among the best VPN providers. Third-party audits are the users’ guarantee that their VPN service does what it claims to be.
New VPN test guidelines
The recent publication, developed by Amtsos VPN working group, which includes VPN suppliers and testers, is only the first in a number of VPN standard direction lines.
“This first release is an important milestone in our mission to provide test guidance in the world of privacy and security,” said John Hawes, COO of Amtso. “By setting clear benchmarks, we enable reasonable comparisons and help users make informed choices when choosing a VPN provider.”
Amtsos VPN test guidelines include key aspects that testers must check when assessing the software’s performance.
These include launching on-boot and auto connection tests to ensure VPNs are automatically activated for maximum protection, Kill Switch testing to verify that no data leaks occur when the VPN connection falls, checking if VPN ‘Is effectively blocking DNS, IP and Webrtc leaks, and dividing tunnel tests.
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According to County’s guidelines, testers should also evaluate how VPN services work under different network conditions while measuring how well VPNs maintain access to sites.
Virtual Private Network (VPN) apps have become crucial tools for many people around the world who want to regain control of their online privacy. A VPN encrypts all users’ connections to avoid third-party access and spoofs their IP address to keep their online activities anonymous.
IP falsification is also the reason why more and more people are using VPN services streaming to keep up with their favorite show while traveling.
Even more noteworthy is VPN use is soaring for the same reason among citizens living under a limited internet environment as a censorship-resistant tool. According to ProtonVPN’s latest data, 119 countries saw VPN use spiking for a total of 2024.
All this interest in VPN solutions makes it even more important to follow a standardized process when evaluating these services.
County now invites independent testers and VPN suppliers to adopt these guidelines. “In the future, the Amtsso VPN working group will expand its focus to include malware -testing in VPN environments and further evaluations of security functions.”
