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Similarly, I cannot find any indication that CyberGhost VPN is doing anything shady or malicious. Ultimately, there is no evidence (that I could find) of Crossrider or Kape ever publishing malware. Today, we can see that Kape is continuing to expand its influence in the privacy and security industry, with the latest acquisition of ExpressVPN. However, it is important to point out that Crossrider was never the creator or owner of the malware.Īfter seeing this abuse of its platform by third parties, Crossrider completely shut everything down in 2016, changed the leadership of the company, and pivoted to the privacy and security industry. However, the Crossrider platform was also being used by bad actors to spread malware. Ultimately, we learned that Crossrider produced a development platform, which was used to create legitimate apps. For an in-depth analysis, see this article on Crossrider, Kape, and malware. But did Crossrider ever produce malware?Īfter news broke about Kape purchasing ExpressVPN, we decided to investigate the issue in more detail. While CyberGhost focused on privacy and security from day one, Crossrider started out as a company that distributed browser extensions and developed ad tech products. The decision to rename the company, explains Erlichman was due to the strong association to the past activities of the company as well as the need to enhance the consumer facing brand for the business.ĬyberGhost even hinted at this ironic conflict of interest in their blog post: With such a troubling history, it appears that the parent company attempted to distance itself from its own past. In 2018, Crossrider decided to change its name to Kape Technologies.Īs the CEO said here, the name change was an attempt to distance Kape from shady “past activities”: It’s yet another fake Adobe Flash Player installer, looking like the thousands of others we’ve seen over the years…. …This new Crossrider variant doesn’t look like much on the surface. However, the use of a configuration profile introduces a unique new method for maintaining persistence.
DO I NEED A VPN ON A MAC MAC
For the most part, this variant is still quite ordinary, doing some of the same old things that we’ve been seeing for years in Mac adware. This article from 2018 illustrates how the “Crossrider adware” was infecting computers through fake Adobe Flash updates:Ī new variant of the Crossrider adware has been spotted that is infecting Macs in a unique way.
DO I NEED A VPN ON A MAC SOFTWARE
installs are typically triggered by bundlers that offer software you might be interested in and combine them with adware or other monetizing methods.Īccording to Malwarebytes and many other reputable online security websites, the Crossrider platform was being used to infect the user’s computer with “adware or other monetizing methods”.
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DO I NEED A VPN ON A MAC WINDOWS
Crossrider not only targets Windows machines but Macs as well. Targeted browsers are Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and sometimes Opera. The installers usually resort to browser hijacking. The common method to infect end-users is software bundlers. When you research the company Crossrider, you find numerous articles about Crossrider malware and adware, such as this article from Malwarebytes:Ĭrossrider offers a highly configurable method for its clients to monetize their software. Now here’s where things get interesting… Crossrider, CyberGhost, and malware This lines up with the trend we’ve observed of VPNs getting bought up by outside investors. Most recently, Kape bought ExpressVPN for nearly $1 billion, as well as a collection of VPN review websites. Later, in December 2019, Kape acquired Private Internet Access. Then in October 2018, Kape purchased Zenmate, a German VPN provider, for an undisclosed amount. In 2017, CyberGhost was acquired by an Israeli company called Crossrider for €9.2 million.Ĭrossrider changed its name to “Kape Technologies” in 2018 in a move to signal a shift to the privacy and security industry. However, that has all changed since Knapp sold CyberGhost VPN to outside investors. That being said, there’s an interesting history with the ownership of the company and outside investors.ĬyberGhost was previously owned by Robert Knapp – a German tech entrepreneur – and based/operated out of Romania.
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Officially, CyberGhost operates under the company CyberGhost S.A. Who owns CyberGhost? Kape Technologies (formerly Crossrider) In the case of CyberGhost VPN, this research revealed some very interesting issues, which is where we will start. After covering the pros and cons, we will examine these frequently-asked questions (FAQs) and discuss a few CyberGhost alternatives.Īnd as with all of my VPN reviews, I begin by thoroughly researching the parent company and the history of the VPN service.