iOS 27 may disrupt NordVPN’s phishing protection

Apple’s iOS 27 update may interfere with NordVPN’s real-time protection against scams and phishing, the VPN provider says. The conflict involves Connectivity Assist, a Wi-Fi Assist feature included in Apple’s twentieth operating system release.

Connectivity Assist is enabled by default and can supplement slow or unreliable Wi-Fi with mobile data. It can also redirect requests to a mobile operator’s DNS servers. NordVPN says that when its protection blocks a phishing site, Apple may interpret the failed connection as a Wi-Fi problem and switch to mobile data outside the VPN’s protection.

NordVPN’s current options are to disable Connectivity Assist or turn off its “always on” setting and enable real-time protection only while using a VPN. The second option can leave users unprotected on mobile data.

NordVPN public-relations chief Laura Tyrylyte says Apple knew the feature could interfere with DNS-based filtering before release. Users of Pi-hole, Firewalla and other DNS-based tools reportedly saw the same behaviour, while Cloudflare’s WARP also stopped blocking malicious sites after the update.

NordVPN says an Apple VPN API change caused operational problems in 2023 as well. Apple has not yet responded to TechRadar’s request for comment.