Security audits & ISO certifications: How we're building a complete trust model

Technical audits prove a system works today. ISO certifications prove the organization is built to keep it that way every day.

Independent security audits are a core part of how ExpressVPN earns trust. For years, we’ve regularly invited third-party experts to examine our apps, infrastructure, and no-logs policy. We’ve long believed that transparency requires external validation.

Audits are designed to answer a specific question: Does this system work as intended and are secure at a point in time? They serve as essential technical validation, yet they rarely reveal how an organization governs itself the other 364 days of the year.

That’s why, last year, ExpressVPN and our parent company, Kape Technologies, widened the scope of our security framework. We reinforced our existing audit schedule with a new layer of operational accountability: International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certifications.

While an audit validates our technology, these ISO certifications validate our methodology. They prove that security, privacy, and quality result from rigorous, internationally recognized processes that we repeat daily. Together, they form a more complete picture of how security at ExpressVPN is built, maintained, and reinforced across the business.

The 2025 benchmarks: Security, quality, and support

Last year, we achieved four certifications that cover operations at both the ExpressVPN brand level and the wider Kape Group level.

ISO/IEC 27001 (Security Management) 

This is the global standard for Information Security Management Systems (ISMS). It requires us to demonstrate a coherent system for managing risks across people, processes, and technology. In practical terms, this means security is built into everyday work: from product design and vendor reviews to incident response planning. This means that you can be confident that security is part of the initial blueprint for every feature we ship.

ISO 18295-1 & 18295-2 (Customer Contact) 

These certifications cover how our support teams operate. Our support team is a core part of the ExpressVPN experience, so we’ve secured these certifications to verify that our customer contact centers operate with strict customer experience controls and oversight. This guarantees consistent service delivery rather than ad-hoc support.

ISO 9001 (Quality Management) 

This certification covers the broader group’s operations and ensures we deliver high-quality services through documented processes. It mandates continual improvement and corrective actions whenever we miss the mark.

Together, these certifications formalize how risks are managed, issues are surfaced, and accountability is maintained across teams. They also reinforce our security posture by ensuring that every process is reviewed, tested, and continuously improved to protect our users and infrastructure. 

They require ongoing compliance and annual reviews, meaning our teams must continually demonstrate that these standards are consistently upheld throughout the year.

The 2026 roadmap: AI, privacy, and resilience

These four certifications set the baseline for what comes next. As the technology shifts toward AI and complex cyber threats, our governance must evolve with it. Our roadmap for 2026 targets three specific vectors:

1. Deepening Privacy and Continuity 

This year, we’re pursuing ISO/IEC 27701 to strengthen how we handle data, with strict roles and accountability across our systems. This acts as a privacy extension to our security management. We’re pairing this with ISO 22301 for Business Continuity to prove that our critical services remain standing even during disruptions.

2. Aligning with Global Regulation  

We intend to stay ahead of the tightening regulatory net. By the third quarter, we aim to demonstrate compliance with the EU’s NIS2 Directive and HIPAA security standards. This ensures our risk management and incident reporting meet the rigorous expectations of both European governments and US health data security requirements.

3. Governing Artificial Intelligence  

As AI becomes more integrated into modern systems, it brings new capabilities as well as vulnerabilities. We’re prioritizing rigorous governance to ensure that any AI integration remains transparent, accountable, and strictly controlled. We’re doing this by targeting ISO/IEC 42001 for late 2026. This is the new standard for AI management systems and ensures that any development or use of AI within our lifecycle adheres to strict risk controls, oversight, and decision-making.

The next era of transparency

We’re also deepening our audit scope. While we’ve long-relied on the ISAE 3000 standard to verify our no-logs policy, we’re now aligning this engagement with SOC 2-style assurance. This moves the needle from verifying that our privacy protections exist to proving that our security and availability controls are operating effectively day in and day out.

The trifecta of trust

This ISO strategy anchors our broader security architecture. It forms the second pillar of our trifecta of trust. In an industry often obscured by smoke and mirrors, we provide evidence across three distinct layers:

1. Technical assurance: We invite independent security experts (including KPMG and Cure53) to audit our servers,  apps, and privacy claims. We also run a bug bounty program that invites researchers to test our systems.
2. Organizational governance: Our new ISO certifications and upcoming SOC 2 alignment validate how we manage risk internally. 
3. Legal transparency: We publish bi-annual Transparency Reports detailing every legal request we receive (and the zero data we surrender in response).

Together, these layers provide technical proof, operational accountability, and legal visibility.

Why this matters to you 

The internet of 2026 is volatile. Between supply chain attacks, AI-driven exploits, and regulatory crackdowns, the “trust us” model is dead. You can’t rely on a company's good intentions; you need proof of their operational discipline.

These certifications serve as that proof. By subjecting our entire operation to formal, recurring reviews, we remove the guesswork from your privacy. We offer a verifiable record in place of blind faith.

You can explore every audit, transparency report, and certification in one public location at the ExpressVPN Trust Center.