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Finder

Who owns your VPN?

The "10 different VPN brands" on a top-10 list are often 2-3 companies. This is the ownership graph - every edge with its evidence and confidence. When one company owns VPNs and the review sites that rank them, "independent review" is a marketing term.

The pattern: Kape Technologies (Crossrider adware lineage) owns ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, PIA and ZenMate - and the review sites vpnMentor and WizCase. Ziff Davis owns IPVanish and StrongVPN - and PCMag, which "reviews" them. Aura/Pango owns Hotspot Shield, Betternet - and Comparitech/ProPrivacy.

Aura / Pango (AnchorFree) / Point Wild · Burlington, Massachusetts, USA (Aura); Point Wild = Pango Group after Sept 2024 split

One engine, many brands: Hotspot Shield, Betternet, Touch VPN, VPN 360, Ultra VPN, Robo Shield, Ultra AV (official Pango Group brand list). AnchorFree/Hotspot Shield got a CDT FTC complaint in Aug 2017 over undisclosed data sharing. Aura acquired Pango 2020-07-07. Also owns VPN review sites Comparitech and ProPrivacy (2022) and Swedish VPN OVPN (2023).

Brands controlled:

evidence: PR Newswire (Aura) · PR Newswire · Center for Democracy and Technology

Comparitech + ProPrivacy · UK / USA

VPN review sites owned by the operator of Hotspot Shield, Betternet, VPN 360, Ultra VPN (Pango/Aura -> Point Wild). Comparitech's own site states it is owned by Comparitech Limited (no operator disclosure on the page; acquisition reported by VPNCompare).

Brands controlled:

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evidence: VPNCompare

Dreamfii / UFO VPN app family (UFO VPN, VPNBot, Fast VPN) · Hong Kong

July 2020: exposed unsecured Elasticsearch cluster, 894 GB, plaintext passwords, IPs, session tokens, despite zero-logs claims; ~20M logs/day; database re-exposed and 'Meow'-attacked. Widely repeated '1TB' figure refers to a second re-exposed dataset - exact size unconfirmed.

Brands controlled:

evidence: Comparitech (Bob Diachenko)

Free Connected Limited (X-VPN) -> Chengdu Zhuozhuo Technology · Hong Kong shell -> mainland China owner (Chengdu Zhuozhuo Technology Co., Ltd.)

X-VPN was the #4 most-downloaded free iOS VPN in the US in 2024; App Store developer name conceals the China link (TTP 2025-04-01).

Brands controlled:

evidence: Tech Transparency Project

GZ Systems Ltd. (press umbrella: Gaditek) · British Virgin Islands (Tortola mailing address); operations/co-founder in Pakistan, formerly Hong Kong

PureVPN owner. Group structure behind 'Gaditek' umbrella (incl. claimed sibling brand Ivacy) not verified via primary filings this session. 2017 FBI cyberstalking case: handed over connection timestamps despite 'zero log' marketing.

Brands controlled:

evidence: Wikipedia · TorrentFreak · The Register

Gen Digital Inc. (formerly Symantec / NortonLifeLock) · Tempe, Arizona, USA + Prague, Czech Republic (NASDAQ: GEN)

Symantec -> NortonLifeLock (Nov 2019, after Broadcom took enterprise unit) -> merged with Avast Sept 2022 -> Gen Digital. VPN/cyber portfolio: Norton VPN, Avast SecureLine, AVG Secure VPN, HMA (HideMyAss), Avira (Phantom VPN), CCleaner. Avast Jumpshot browsing-data scandal 2014-2020; FTC penalty $16.5M Feb 2024.

Brands controlled:

evidence: Wikipedia · Ars Technica · The Verge

Hola Networks (Hola VPN) / Luminati / Bright Data · Israel

Free Hola users' devices serve as exit nodes for the paid proxy network. Sold as Luminati from late 2014 ($20/GB), exposed May 2015 after 8chan attack; 75.6% sold to EMK Capital 2017 ($125M at $165M valuation, below announced ~$200M); Luminati renamed Bright Data March 2021.

Brands controlled:

evidence: ZDNet · Calcalist · Business Wire

Kape Technologies plc (formerly Crossrider) · London, UK (dev center Tel Aviv); delisted from LSE May 2023

Founded 2011 as Crossrider, a browser-extension/monetization SDK widely used by adware and ad injectors (Malwarebytes classifies Crossrider as adware). Sagi acquired it 2012 for $37M; renamed Kape March 2018; pivoted to VPNs. Now owns 5 VPN brands plus review-site publisher Webselenese (vpnMentor, WizCase).

Brands controlled:

evidence: Wikipedia · RestorePrivacy · CyberInsider

Meta Platforms (Facebook) - Onavo · Menlo Park, California, USA

Acquired Onavo (Israeli VPN/analytics) Oct 2013 for ~$120M. Apple forced Onavo Protect from iOS App Store Aug 2018 for harvesting other apps' data; Android version sunset Feb 2019. Court documents: 'Project Ghostbusters' used Onavo to impersonate Snapchat/YouTube/Amazon servers and decrypt traffic. ACCC suit settled: Meta paid A$20M July 2023.

Brands controlled:

  • onavo

evidence: Wikipedia · TechCrunch · TechCrunch

Nord Security (Nordsec / Nord Security group, Tesonet ecosystem) · Lithuania (operating cos in Panama/Netherlands/UK)

Correction: the investor often miscited as 'Novum Ventures' is NOVATOR (TechCrunch 2022-04-06). NordVPN (2012) + Surfshark merged under one holding Feb 2022. Acquired Atlas VPN 2021, killed it 2024-04-24. Nebular as parent entity: not verified this session.

Brands controlled:

evidence: NordVPN (company) · TechCrunch · PCMag

Qihoo 360 / Innovative Connecting app family (Turbo VPN, VPN Proxy Master, Thunder VPN, Snap VPN) · Singapore shells (Innovative Connecting, Lemon Clove, Autumn Breeze) -> Cayman (Lemon Seed) -> Qihoo 360, China

TTP found 20 of the top 100 free iOS VPN apps of 2024 covertly Chinese-owned (70M+ US downloads). Qihoo 360 is on the US Commerce Department Entity List (June 2020) and the DoD 'Chinese military company' list. The 2021-era family mapping (Innovative Connecting / Autoclean / All Connected / Shadowone) is VPNpro's work - NOT a 2021 TTP report (no 'Big Sleep' TTP report exists).

Brands controlled:

evidence: Tech Transparency Project / Campaign for Accountability · VPNpro

SuperVPN (SuperSoftTech) app family · unclear (Chinese-linked app family per industry mapping; no primary filing verified this session)

Feb 2021: 21M records of SuperVPN/GeckoVPN/ChatVPN users sold on hacker forum (HIBP: 20M+). May 2023: second exposure of 360M records / 133 GB found by Jeremiah Fowler (reported via vpnMentor). Chinese ownership widely asserted - unclear pending primary evidence.

Brands controlled:

  • supervpn

evidence: vpnMentor (Jeremiah Fowler) · Malwarebytes · Have I Been Pwned

Webselenese (vpnMentor + WizCase) · unclear

VPN review sites owned by the parent of ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, PIA, ZenMate. SafetyDetectives is NOT Webselenese/Kape - no evidence found for that claim (checked 2026-09-27); do not repeat it.

Brands controlled:

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evidence: CyberInsider · Wikipedia

Ziff Davis Inc. (formerly J2 Global) · New York, USA (NASDAQ: ZD)

Renamed from J2 Global to Ziff Davis in 2021. Owns VPNs (IPVanish, StrongVPN via NetProtect/VIPRE Security Group) AND media outlets that review VPNs (PCMag, Mashable). Encrypt.me and SugarSync acquisitions via J2 Global (reported). Ookla/Speedtest ownership claim could NOT be verified this session - do not assert.

Brands controlled:

evidence: TechRadar · Wikipedia

confidence: confirmed = primary/regulatory source · reported = serious press · rumor = labeled as suspicion, never stated as fact. Corrections: contact.

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