Shauli Zacks
Published on: September 25, 2025
SafetyDetectives recently spoke with Tobias Windh and William Öling, the co-founders of AzireVPN. Since launching in 2012, the Sweden-based VPN provider has taken a hands-on approach to privacy by building and maintaining its own infrastructure, pioneering technologies like WireGuard and Blind Operator mode, and committing to strict no-logs policies. In our conversation, Tobias and William shared how AzireVPN started, the values that drive their work, and what’s next as the company continues to grow with the support of Malwarebytes.
Can you share how AzireVPN got started — what inspired the founding team, and how the mission has evolved since 2012?
AzireVPN was born in 2012 because we were frustrated with VPNs that made bold promises but didn’t really show how they worked. From day one, our idea was simple: build the kind of VPN we’d want to use ourselves — one that doesn’t collect personal information, doesn’t cut corners, and is run by people who actually care about privacy.
Twelve years later, the mission hasn’t changed. We’re still focused on protecting people’s privacy and being transparent about how we do it. Along the way, we’ve also been the first to adopt new privacy technology like WireGuard and pioneered new approaches to privacy with our Blind Operator mode.
What has changed is the scale. We started as a tiny team, running a handful of servers. Now, thanks to our recent partnership with Malwarebytes, we’ve been able to grow faster than we ever imagined — in fact, this year alone we doubled our network. And later this year, we’re also bringing in an independent auditor to verify our no-logs approach.
What are the core principles or values that guide AzireVPN’s approach to privacy and security?
We’ve always had a “privacy first, no exceptions” mindset. Every decision we make — from which servers we buy to what tools we use internally — is filtered through that lens. A few things that really define us:
- Transparency: we’d rather show you how things work than ask you to trust our word. That’s why we film things like our Server Journey video, where you can literally watch us prep and deploy the very servers you use as a customer. Everything is out in the open.
- Minimal third-party tools: we’ve always preferred running our own infrastructure for things like email, analytics, and support, to stay in full control. Now, being part of Malwarebytes, we also benefit from their vetted internal tools — so we get the best of both worlds: independence where it matters most, plus the security and reliability of a larger ecosystem.
- Honest marketing: we don’t buy fake reviews, run sketchy affiliate sites, or spam people with ads they never asked for. We’d rather let the service speak for itself.
- Minimal sign-up requirements: you don’t even need to give us your email address if you don’t want to. The only thing we keep is an internal identifier for payments, and even that gets deleted after six months.
We think these values set the foundation for real trust — because you shouldn’t have to just “hope” your VPN does what it says.
“Zero logs, diskless servers, Blind Operator mode” are strong claims. How does AzireVPN technically ensure these features work as intended — and how do you stay ahead of potential threats to those guarantees?
We built our infrastructure so that it literally can’t log or leak anything, even by accident:
- Our servers run without hard drives (diskless), entirely on RAM. When they’re switched off, everything disappears.
- We’ve blocked both local and remote access (what we call Blind Operator mode), so even our own staff can’t log into them after deployment.
- The no-logs promise isn’t just a policy — it’s built into the system. Because of how our servers are prepared and operated, they never store any logs or personal data. Even if we — or an authority — came knocking, there’s simply nothing there to hand over, because the data doesn’t exist in the first place.
- Every server also has intrusion alert. So if anybody would try to mess with any of our servers, we would get alerted immediately. But even then, there would be nothing there for them to access.
How do we ensure this? Every server that goes online has first been through our hands. We prep them ourselves, at our office here in Stockholm, hardening them to our standards before they ever reach a data center.
One of our quirks is that we even glue shut the ports we don’t use — a tradition from Azire’s early days that we still keep. Is it strictly necessary? No. It takes a lot more work. But it’s our way of showing how seriously we take trust. You can see a bit of that process in our Behind the scenes video too.
VPNs often face skepticism around speed, infrastructure, and reliability. How do you balance delivering high performance with maintaining tight privacy protections?
For us, speed and privacy go hand in hand. We run our own bare-metal servers and are on a mission to upgrade all of them to 10G — we’re about 90% there already. A few select locations, like Stockholm, will even be getting 100G soon — stay tuned for that.
We also pair this with modern protocols like WireGuard, which is faster and more reliable than older options. The result is both strong security and high performance — and we don’t, and never will, artificially limit the speed.
Speed isn’t a “nice-to-have” for us, it’s essential. Privacy solutions only work if people can actually access and use them every day, without friction. If a VPN slows you down too much, most people just won’t stick with it.
Some countries and users face legal, regulatory, or technical blocks (VPN bans, censorship etc.). What challenges has AzireVPN encountered in those environments, and how do you respond?
We’ve definitely seen governments trying to block VPNs or push for logging requirements. Our response has always been the same:
- If a country demands surveillance, we’d rather shut down our servers there than compromise on our principles.
- Technically, we’re working on obfuscation methods and alternative connection options so users can stay connected even in restrictive environments.
It’s not always easy, but we’d rather lose a location than lose people’s trust.
Looking forward, what are the biggest opportunities and threats you see for AzireVPN over the next few years — new features, changing privacy laws, competition, etc.?
We’ve already doubled our server network this year, and there’s more growth ahead with locations like Jakarta, Indonesia, and Johannesburg, South Africa, coming soon.
Later this year, we’re looking forward to an independent audit to provide an additional layer of proof for our no-logs policy. On the roadmap, our team is also working on a Linux app, double-hop on WireGuard, quantum-resistant encryption, and IP refreshes across multiple locations.
Threats: privacy laws can cut both ways — some protect users, but others, like the EU’s proposed Chat Control, could put all European communications under surveillance — from messages and emails to video calls and cloud files. This isn’t just about children’s safety; it would fundamentally compromise encrypted messaging, end private conversations, and create a massive privacy risk for everyone. That’s why services like AzireVPN become increasingly important — we provide a space where private communication can remain private, and we stand firmly against legislation that threatens that.
Ultimately, our focus remains the same: building a VPN where privacy isn’t just promised — it’s built into every server. Being part of Malwarebytes gives us the support to grow faster while keeping the hands-on approach and independence our users trust. Everyone deserves privacy, and we’re building the tools to keep it safe.
