Mullvad

Key takeaways

Mullvad belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Mullvad to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Mullvad from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Mullvad is a commercial VPN service based in Sweden. The name "Mullvad" is the word for "mole" in the Swedish language. Mullvad operates using the WireGuard protocol. It also supports Shadowsocks as a bridge protocol for censorship circumvention. Mullvad's VPN client software is publicly available under the GPLv3, a free and open-source software license.

History Mullvad was launched in March 2009 by Amagicom AB in Göteborg, and it had begun by supporting connections via the OpenVPN protocol in 2009. Mullvad was an early adopter and supporter of the WireGuard protocol, announcing the availability of the new VPN protocol in March 2017 and making a "generous donation" supporting WireGuard development between July and December 2017. In September 2018, the cybersecurity firm Cure53 performed a penetration test on Mullvad's macOS, Windows, and Linux applications. Seven issues were found which were addressed by Mullvad. Cure53 tested only the applications and supporting functions. No assessment was made on the Mullvad server-side and back end. In October 2019, Mullvad partnered with Mozilla to utilize Mullvad's WireGuard servers for Mozilla VPN. In April 2020, Mullvad partnered with Malwarebytes and provided WireGuard servers for their VPN service, Malwarebytes Privacy, however since March 2025 they have transitioned over to their own servers based upon their earlier November 2024 AzireVPN acquisition. In May 2022, Mullvad started officially accepting Monero. On 18 April 2023, Mullvad's head office in Gothenburg was visited by officers from the National Operations Department of the Swedish Police Authority who had a search warrant to seize computers being used by Mullvad containing customer data. Mullvad demonstrated that in accordance with their policies, no such data existed on their systems. After consulting with the prosecutor, the officers left without seizing any equipment or obtaining customer information. Mullvad had released a public statement in relation to this information in a blog post on their website two days later, also mentioning that it was their first time that their offices had been searched by authorities. In a letter sent to Mullvad nine days after the search, the Swedish Police Authority stated that they had conducted the search at the request of Germany for an ongoing investigation. The investigation involved a blackmail attack that targeted several institutions in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania which revealed IP addresses that were traced back to Mullvad's VPN service. On 29 May 2023, Mullvad announced that they would be removing support for port forwarding, effective on 1 July 2023. This was done due to the use of port forwarding for illegal activities, with this causing interference by law enforcement, Mullvad IP addresses getting blacklisted, and hosting providers canceling their services.

Service A TechRadar review noted in 2019 that "Mullvad's mote service is powerful, up-to-date, and absolutely stuffed with high-end technologies". Complementing its use of the open-source OpenVPN and WireGuard protocols, Mullvad includes "industrial strength" encryption (employing AES-256 GCM methodology), 4096-bit RSA certificates with SHA-512 for server authentication, perfect forward secrecy, multiple layers of DNS leak protection, IPv6 leak-protection, and multiple "stealth options" to help bypass government or corporate VPN blocking. Mullvad has over 500 VPN servers in 50 countries. Mullvad provides VPN client applications for computers running the Windows, macOS and Linux operating systems. As of April 2020, native iOS and Android Mullvad VPN clients using the WireGuard protocol are available. iOS and Android mobile operating system users can also configure and use built-in VPN clients or the WireGuard app to access Mullvad's service.

Privacy Providing personal information used to identify users such as email addresses and phone numbers is not required during Mullvad's registration process. Instead, a unique 16-digit account number is anonymously generated for each newly registered user, and this account number is used to log in to the Mullvad on other devices. For anonymity purposes, Mullvad accepts the anonymous payment methods of cash and Monero. Payment for the service can also be made via bank wire-transfer, credit card, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, PayPal, Swish, EPS Transfer, Bancontact, iDEAL, Przelewy24, and vouchers sold by multiple resellers. Payments made via cryptocurrency have a 10% discount. In June 2022, the service announced that it will no longer offer new recurring subscriptions, as this further reduces the amount of personal information that will have to be stored. Mullvad does not log VPN users' IP addresses, the VPN IP address used, browsing-activity, bandwidth, connections, session duration, timestamps, and DNS-requests. Mullvad has many privacy-focused features built into their VPN. Instances include multi-hop, which routes all traffic through an additional Mullvad server before it arrives at its destination, the ability to add a quantum-resistant key exchange to the encryption process, making all data encrypted resistant to quantum computer related attacks, and Defense against AI-guided Traffic Analysis (DAITA), which ensures all packets are the same size and also inserts random network traffic (significantly increasing bandwidth usage), though this is only enabled on select servers. Mullvad has been actively campaigning against the EU's Regulation to Prevent and Combat Child Sexual Abuse (a.k.a. Chat Control), which would require service providers to scan all users' online communications, even encrypted services, arguing that it would make all methods of online communication viewable and thus not private and not anonymous.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Mullvad

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Mullvad claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Mullvad before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Mullvad ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Mullvad

In research: Mullvad appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Mullvad in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Mullvad is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Alternative Internet DNS services, Free software programmed in Kotlin, Free software programmed in Rust, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Mullvad outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study Mullvad in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Mullvad means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Mullvad out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mullvad in simple terms?

Mullvad is a commercial VPN service based in Sweden. The name "Mullvad" is the word for "mole" in the Swedish language.

Why does Mullvad matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Mullvad?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Mullvad.