All are invited to a Networked Systems Tech talk presented by Jonatas Marques (IPinfo) on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, at 11:25 a.m. – 12:40 p.m. at Stuart Building, room 113. The talk is titled “Evaluating VPN Location Claims from a Global Network of Probes.”

For more info, see: http://www.cs.iit.edu/~nsultana1/techtalks/

Abstract

Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) have in the last years moved from a niche Internet application to being a multi-billion dollar industry. VPNs generally aim to provide users with privacy and security. Additionally, VPN providers also advertise and provide the ability to select an exit location to work around geofencing (e.g., by video streaming services) or evade censorship. VPN providers have many servers physically situated in different locations, and sometimes offer virtual locations (servers whose advertised location differs from its actual physical location). Some of the reasons for virtualized locations include reduced costs, simplified resource management, improved performance, expanded service, and increased security. In our study, we examine the accuracy of location claims for VPN exit node IP addresses. For this purpose, we employ latency-based geolocation inference from IPinfo’s globally distributed vantage points. We observe that nearly all VPN advertised country coverage is latency-consistent, but most providers augment their capacity with virtual locations to at least some degree.

Biography

Jonatas is a researcher and engineer specializing in networked and distributed systems. His work combines data-driven analysis with cutting-edge approaches to uncover insights about networks and the Internet. Currently, he works as a research scientist at IPinfo, helping empower organizations with accurate IP address data. Previously, Jonatas was a postdoctoral scholar at the Network Operations and Internet Security (NOISE) research lab led by Nick Feamster at the University of Chicago. Jonatas holds a PhD in Computer Science from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) in Brazil.