Surfshark unveils a new tool to minimize the impact of lost VPN connections – but don't call it a kill switch

• Surfshark has unveiled "an industry-first technology" for greater VPN connection stability
• Surfshark Everlink works in the background to recover dropped VPN connections
• The provider also promises to reduce the risk of IP address exposure

Surfshark has just unveiled an "industry-first" patented technology designed to minimize the impact of lost VPN connections – but don't call it a VPN kill switch.

Surfshark Everlink comes as a "self-healing infrastructure," the provider explains to TechRadar, which works in the background to recover dropped VPN connections while reducing the risk of IP address exposure. The new technology is now available by default on the WireGuard protocol across all platforms.

"We wanted to improve this industry standard and take it to the next level – instead of killing the connection, we want users to stay securely connected and private," said Chief Technology Officer at Surfshark, Donatas Budvytis.

Surfshark Everlink: more privacy and convenience

Already one of the best VPN providers on the market, according to TechRadar's testing, Surfshark now promises to deliver even more stable and secure performance. Surfshark Everlink is indeed a technology designed to enhance what the provider considers the most critical VPN quality metric – connection stability.

"While other shiny metrics, such as the number of servers, might seem important, connection stability is something that truly makes the difference to the user experience,” explains Budvytis.

Put it simply, Everlink acts as an additional layer of security to help recover lost VPN connections.

This means that every time you connect to your Surfshark VPN service, you'll also connect to the Everlink infrastructure. The tool promises to revive your connections when they drop by reconfiguring the VPN tunnel without the need to disconnect and reconnect from the virtual private network (VPN).

"If the VPN is a tunnel that secures your traffic, imagine Surfshark Everlink as another one that secures that VPN tunnel. If one connection goes down, you're automatically switched to another, so you stay connected and secure,” said Budvytis.

This ability to self-heal lost VPN connections can also ensure a stable performance even when the provider undergoes some network maintenance. Everlink will simply route all traffic to the closest available server without any interruption to your experience.

Besides greater VPN connection stability, Surfshark Everlink also promises to boost the level of security and privacy protection.

As Budvytis explains, an unstable VPN connection isn't just an annoyance, but can also lead to IP address exposure, leaving users traceable and vulnerable.

He said: "For journalists, activists, whistleblowers and anyone who values online privacy, this can be a significant risk."

All of the most private and secure VPN services, however, already have a feature to minimize the risk of IP exposure – a VPN kill switch. This feature, as the name suggests, kills your device's internet access every time your connection drops.

Yet, Everlink seeks to prevent leaks while ensuring users are securely connected. Talking to TechRadar, Budvytis explains that when the VPN server connection drops, the application directly sends a request to the Everlink server for VPN reconfiguration information. Once this information is received, it is used to reconfigure the VPN connection without the need to disconnect and reconnect the VPN.

"The main advantage of this versus the Kill Switch is that all of this happens seamlessly and can keep your connection infinitely," Budvytis told us. "Users can still choose to use the Kill Switch feature, but we wanted to offer something in addition to this."

Surfshark Everlink was built on a patented technology (US11190491B1) and is now available by default on the WireGuard protocol across all platforms, including iOS, macOS, Windows, Android, and Linux VPN apps.

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