Wireguard: what is it?

WireGuard is a protocol vpn (which allows a customer like your computer or your phone to communicate with a server vpn. You may also hear WireGuard refer to theapplication which you can run on your devices and which uses the eponymous protocol.

How does Wireguard work?

WireGuard’s developer, security researcher Jason A. Donenfeld, began working on the protocol in 2016. Originally developed for linuxit is now also available on Windows, Mac, android and iOS.

One of the main advantages of WireGuard is its simplicity. While OpenVPN and IKEv2 require hundreds of thousands of lines of code, WireGuard works with less than 5,000, and that has all sorts of advantages, fewer security holes for example. Reduced CPU usage. Faster connection times. And it is much better suited to routers and devices mobiles which do not have the computing power of a desktop computer. the encryption is another highlight, with WireGuard using state-of-the-art protocols such as Curve25519, ChaCha20, Poly1305, and BLAKE2.

Secondary but important benefits include the ability to operate inside the kernel Linux, the kernel of operating system who does all the low-level heavy work. OpenVPN works outside the kernel, so Linux has to do extra work to help OpenVPN work with the system, whenever it sends or receives packages. WireGuard lives inside the kernel, without the need to communicate through the various software layers, which allows to improve performance considerably.

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With these strengths, it’s no surprise that WireGuard is now widely supported in the world of vpn. CyberGhost, Surfshark, Private Internet Access, and others include it in their apps, and NordVPN has used WireGuard as the basis for its NordLynx protocol. The technology isn’t supported by everyone, however, and VPN providers need to work out several issues before they can make it work.

WireGuard does not allow assigning IP addresses dynamics, for example. This theoretically means that your VPN IP address could be the same each time you connect, which could allow you to be tracked online. WireGuard doesn’t automatically delete your IP address when you log out, either. It can stay in memory for who knows how long after the end of the session. OpenVPN and other protocols provide measures to protect your privacy by removing IP addresses when they are no longer needed, reducing the opportunity for your address to be registered.