This was an interesting acquisition that greatly expanded Kape’s influence in the VPN market. Then, in 2019, Kape purchased Private Internet Access (PIA). In 2018, Kape purchased ZenMate VPN, which was a smaller VPN service based in Germany. However, we examined the history of Crossrider and discovered that while its platform was used for malware by third parties, Crossrider was not the creator or distributor of malware.
Back in 2017, the company was named Crossrider and it was often connected with malware that infected devices via packaged software bundles - see this blog post from Malwarebytes. We have been following Kape since it first appeared on our radar in 2017 after buying CyberGhost VPN. Kape Technologies owns CyberGhost, Private Internet Access, Zenmate, and now ExpressVPN How serious of an issue is this? Well, you can decide that for yourselves after reading this report. When the same company runs both the VPN service and also the VPN review website that rates and recommends the same service, this can create a conflict of interest. In fact, some studies suggest that, “84 percent trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation” - but is this trust warranted? In some cases, we believe the answer is no. Today, most people go online to research products and services before making a purchase. After all, a review is supposed to be unbiased and objective, otherwise it’s no different from an advertisement.
Would you trust a movie review that was written by the director of the movie? Or how about a book review that was written by the book’s author? Of course, this would be absurd because there’s an obvious conflict of interest. Could any information on the website be trusted knowing that it was influenced by the owners of the site? In other words, they wrote their own glowing review. You learn that the VPN “review” website you have been reading is actually owned by the VPN service itself. You have read through the website, analyzed the pricing options, and are just about to purchase a subscription - but then something changes your mind. Imagine reading a glowing review online about a VPN service.