Surfshark partners with Internews to provide free VPN access to journalists

Surfshark and Internews will provide fully paid Surfshark One subscriptions to 100 media and civil society organizations across nine high-risk countries, and Internews held a digital security training in Kampala for Sudanese journalists and activists.

Surfshark has partnered with Internews to give journalists and activists access to free VPN protection. The agreement supplies fully paid Surfshark One subscriptions to 100 media outlets and civil society organizations operating in nine high-risk countries. Surfshark One combines a virtual private network with complementary security tools and protections, and Internews organised related digital security training in Kampala for Sudanese journalists and civil society activists. The announcement follows Surfshark's existing Emergency VPN work and is presented alongside similar humanitarian programs from other providers. Key details: - 100 fully paid Surfshark One subscriptions for media organisations and civil society groups across nine high-risk countries. - Surfshark One bundles VPN service with tools such as antivirus, data leak alerts, ad and tracker blocking, and a built-in kill switch. - The service is described as using 256-bit AES encryption and an independently audited no-logs policy. - Internews hosted a digital security training session in Kampala aimed at Sudanese journalists and activists as part of the support. - The effort builds on Surfshark's Emergency VPN initiative and is noted alongside comparable programs run by other VPN providers including NordVPN, IPVanish, ExpressVPN and Proton VPN. Summary: The partnership aims to provide encrypted connections and a cybersecurity toolkit to help reduce surveillance risks and maintain access when internet controls are in place. It complements existing emergency-access and training efforts by Surfshark and other providers. Undetermined at this time.