Control Panel

April 3, 2025

Feature Improvements

URL-Based Split Tunneling – Increased Domain Limit

You can now specify up to 100 domains, a significant increase from the previous limit of 10. This allows greater flexibility in routing specified domains, subdomains, or wildcards directly to the internet.

March 19, 2025

Feature Improvements

Introducing Dashboards

We’ve upgraded the Dashboards (formerly Insights) page for Core, Lite, and Premium users, providing deeper visibility into security and device usage across your organization:

• 2FA adoption: Displays the percentage of organization members with two-factor authentication enabled.
• OS distribution: Shows the operating systems used across devices for better troubleshooting and updates.
• NordLayer application versions: Helps identify outdated app versions in use.
• Browser distribution: Tracks browser types used with the NordLayer Extension.

Additionally, we are introducing Shared Gateway usage monitoring for clients without private gateways. Admins can now view a map of shared gateway locations and track which ones are most frequently used by their organization.

March 5, 2025

Feature Improvements

Sites redesign

We're excited to introduce improvements to the Sites section in the Control Panel, making it more mobile-friendly and accessible:

• Enhanced responsiveness: The Sites UI now adapts seamlessly to different screen sizes, providing a smoother experience on mobile and tablets.
• Improved accessibility: Navigation and interaction elements have been optimized for better usability across all devices.

These updates ensure a more intuitive and efficient experience when managing your sites on the go.

January 22, 2025

Feature Improvements

New button to reset Member 2FA

We’re introducing a new Reset 2FA button to the Member’s page in the Control Panel that does the following:

• 2FA disabling: It disables two-factor authentication (2FA) for that member, providing a quick resolution for specific account access issues.
• Instant device logout: The button logs the selected member out from all their devices.

This feature is exclusively available to Owners and similar roles, ensuring it remains a secure and intentional action. This update empowers Owners with greater control over member accounts, simplifying account management while maintaining security.

January 16, 2025

Feature Improvements

Gateway page redesign

We’re thrilled to announce the redesigned gateway page, bringing a fresh and intuitive experience to enhance your workflow:

• Improved card design: The Gateway page now features new card and table layouts for better readability across desktop and mobile devices.
• Enhanced gateway management: A new filter and sort system makes managing gateways more efficient. Additionally, a new Table view supports handling large gateway lists with added Created and Modified dates for better organization.
• Tabs for features: Gateway features, like browser extension and split tunneling, are now organized into tabs with clear status displays for seamless navigation.
• Server card enhancements: The server card now includes a quick Copy to clipboard option for server details, while the updated server selection modal lists all available servers for easier selection.

This redesign ensures a cleaner, more responsive experience on tablets and mobile devices and is available to all users at no additional cost.

December 11, 2024

Feature Improvements

Enhanced Subnet Management for Sites

We're excited to announce a major enhancement to subnet management within Sites.

• Expanded Subnet Capacity: You can now add up to 50 subnets per Site—10x the previous limit of 5. This improvement aligns more closely with customer needs, enabling them to address even more complex cases.
• Streamlined Subnet Entry: We've upgraded the UI to allow administrators to paste all Site subnets at once using comma-separated values, eliminating the need to input subnets individually.

These updates simplify subnet management and deliver greater flexibility for scaling your network configurations.

November 13, 2024

New Features

Download Protection

We're excited to announce the release of Download Protection, a new feature designed to strengthen your organization's security posture. This feature provides granular control over file downloads, ensuring that potential threats are identified and neutralized before they can compromise your network. It offers:

• Proactive threat detection: Automatically checks downloaded files for malware, protecting your organization from emerging threats.
• Centralized control: Easily enable or disable Download Protection for specific teams or all users through the Control Panel.
• Detailed insights: Monitor file download activity, identify potential threats, and generate comprehensive reports.

By leveraging Download Protection, network administrators can effectively mitigate risks and strengthen their organization's security.

October 21, 2024

Feature Improvements

New Dashboards

We are excited to introduce a suite of new dashboards in the Control Panel, providing enhanced visibility into device activity and security adoption across your organization:

• 2FA Adoption: Tracks your organization's two-factor authentication adoption rate.
• OS Distribution: Displays the operating systems in use, aiding in troubleshooting and updates.
• Client Versions: Highlights NordLayer app versions, helping identify outdated or vulnerable ones.
• Browser Distribution: Shows the types of web browsers being used by employees within your organization's network.

July 24, 2024

Feature Improvements

Team Administrator role changes

To ensure a clear ownership hierarchy, Team Administrators can no longer remove other Team Administrators from the team. In addition, Owners can now assign the Team Administrator role directly within the Team tab. Simply click the "Add Team Administrator" button to grant administrative access to new members.

July 9, 2024

Feature Improvements

Cloud Firewall rule limit increase

You can now have more than 10 rules enabled at once (up to 50 per Gateway) for a Cloud Firewall in the Control Panel. Request a Cloud Firewall rule limit increase by contacting our customer support or your dedicated account manager.

June 27, 2024

Feature Improvements

Sites

We are excited to introduce a new name for our IPSec Site-to-Site tunnel management feature in the Control Panel: Sites. Along with the new name and a redesigned Network tab, this feature lets administrators create, manage, and view site-to-site VPN tunnels directly. This enhancement gives administrators direct control over their site-to-site connections and allows for real-time adjustments, all within the Control Panel.

May 23, 2024

Feature Improvements

Member export

Owners can now export the member list directly from the Members page. This feature allows you to download a comprehensive list of all your organization's members as .csv file, streamlining data management and administrative tasks.

May 22, 2024

Feature Improvements

Bandwidth dashboard

We're excited to introduce the new Bandwidth dashboard in the Server Usage Analytics page. This dashboard provides a visual graph displaying the average data transmission rate per second (bandwidth) through your organization's private VPN gateway. With our new dashboard, you can gain valuable insights into your server's incoming and outgoing data. The dashboard stores data for up to 60 days, allowing you to review historical trends.

May 15, 2024

Feature Improvements

Split Tunneling: Include type

We're excited to announce the launch of the Split Tunnel server-level option in the Control Panel. The newly released IP-based split tunneling feature provides granular control over which subnets or IP addresses are routed through the VPN tunnel. All other traffic will bypass the VPN, heading directly to the internet. This enhancement allows for more precise traffic management and improves network efficiency.

March 30, 2024

Feature Improvements

Deep Packet Inspection (Lite)

We’re excited to announce the latest improvement to our Deep Packet Inspection (Lite). It’s now possible to block access to 400 ports and protocols, giving you an unprecedented level of security customization.

March 20, 2024

New Features

Active Session Timeout

We've introduced more extensive session duration controls. Prior to this update, only Idle Session Timeout was adjustable, where users would be logged out after a period of inactivity. The new feature, Active Session Timeout, allows for the specification of a maximum session duration.

It means a user will be automatically logged out after the predetermined time has elapsed, regardless of user activity. This enhancement offers a more robust and customizable security posture, aligning with varied operational needs.

February 29, 2024

Feature Improvements

Location-based policy

In our effort to enhance Device Posture Security capabilities, we're introducing location specific policies. These policies empower clients to set access rules based on a user's geographical location. Increased network visibility enables administrators to pinpoint users attempting to log in from restricted countries and facilitates prompt communication with those users. Moreover, for organizations utilizing the Device Posture Security (DPS) blocking capability, administrators now possess the capability to promptly block access for accounts originating in countries that have been designated as banned or restricted.

Browser Extension self-service

We're rolling out an update for Browser Extension that empowers Organization Administrators to activate the agent without contacting customer support. The process for enabling Browser Extension is now fully automated, allowing for quick and effortless activation directly from the Network tab in the Control Panel.

December 14, 2023

Feature Improvements

Always On VPN per teams

Always On VPN now has a more flexible and granular way of enabling the feature. Both Organization Admins and Members can enable Always On VPN, but with our latest update, Organization Admins can now enforce VPN use for selected teams rather than the entire organization.

This approach aligns perfectly with the diverse needs of different teams, offering a more customized and efficient experience.

November 13, 2023

New Features

Server usage analytics

Organization Admins can now monitor how Members use NordLayer through the Insights page on Control Panel. The page helps Admins enhance data analytics, spot anomalies, and ensure seamless server usage, as well as advise Members, troubleshoot, and audit.

The Insights page currently has two dashboards: Protocol usage and Active sessions.

The Protocol usage dashboard shows the connections per protocol (including Browser Extension) in a time range. This helps Organization Admins make better, data-driven decisions.

The Active sessions dashboard shows the number of connections to different servers with a dedicated IP in a time range. This helps to spot unusual behavior like connections in after hours or to backup or side gateways, as well as unexpected incidents.

October 4, 2023

New Features

Cloud Firewall

Cloud Fireall is live!

Organization Admins can now configure firewall rules for their Virtual Private Gateways to help protect hybrid infrastructure and resources against internal and external threats.

Cloud Firewall is currently available only on the NordLayer desktop and mobile apps. The feature is not compatible with NordLayer Browser Extension.

Learn more here.

New Features

Device Posture Security (prevent access with non-compliant devices)

Preventing access to non-compliant devices with Device Security Posture is live!

From now on, Organization Admins can prevent access to the network for non-compliant devices. Organization Admins can set the following rules:

• Device must be trusted by Organization Admin;
• Device must have a preferred operating system and its version;
• Device must have the latest NordLayer application version;
• Device must not be jailbroken or rooted;
• Device must contain a specific file.

The new feature is also supported both on the NordLayer apps and NordLayer Browser Extension.

April 25, 2023

Feature Improvements

JumpCloud SSO

JumpCloud SSO is live!

All Members can now authenticate their identity via JumpCloud SSO.

Other available SSO providers include Google, OKTA, Azure AD, and OneLogin. You can set up SSO in the Control Panel or in the NordLayer app.

March 30, 2023

New Features

Team Administrator role

Organization Admins can now assign a new Team Administrator role to Members.

Team Administrators have the ability to add and remove certain people from the teams they administer. This makes it easier and more efficient to manage teams, especially larger ones.

March 1, 2023

New Features

Download invoices

Getting invoices just got easier!

From now on, Organization Admins can download invoices anytime straight from the Control Panel without contacting our Customer Support team.

To download your invoices, go to Control Panel → Subscription → Payments history, select the invoice you want to download and click on Download invoice.

Invoices for January 2023 and earlier can be accessed by contacting our 24/7 Customer Support team.

January 9, 2023

Feature Improvements

Control Panel navigation update

Navigating the Control Panel just got easier!

The improved Control Panel design offers an enhanced user experience with more intuitive navigation, making it easier to find what you’re looking for.

For example, Organization Admins and Members will notice a new top navigation bar, which now features the user profile, the help section, and subscription information.

The left-side navigation bar has been upgraded with new icons, animations, and a clearly defined organization title and ID.

November 9, 2022

New Features

Device Posture Monitoring (Beta)

Device Posture Monitoring (Beta) is live!

Organization Admins can now check and evaluate devices according to predefined security rules and get notified about non-compliant devices.

The feature allows Organization Admins to identify new devices in the network, check the device’s operating system, its version, and whether the supported NordLayer app version is used.

Organization Admins can also check if the device is not jailbroken or rooted and whether it contains specific files.

You can enable and configure Device Posture Monitoring (Beta) by going to Control Panel → Device security → Profiles.

October 19, 2022

New Features

Idle session timeout

Idle session timeout is live!

Organization admins can now control how long users can stay idle (device in sleep mode or turned off) before being asked to re-login to the NordLayer app and the Control Panel.

The idle session timeout setting minimizes the risk of unauthorized access to your virtual private gateways and company resources if a user is idle for an extended period of time.

The new feature applies to the NordLayer application on all desktop and mobile operating systems and can be applied separately for the app and the Control Panel.

You can set the idle session timeout by going to Control Panel → Security configurations.

September 22, 2022

New Features

SCIM User Provisioning with Okta and Azure

SCIM User Provisioning with Okta and Azure just got smoother!

Organization Admins can now set up SCIM User Provisioning without contacting our customer service.

To enable and configure SCIM User Provisioning, go to Control Panel → Settings → Login methods → Access management.

Learn how to set up SCIM User Provisioning with Okta and Azure here:

User Provisioning setup with Okta

User Provisioning setup with Microsoft Azure AD

September 15, 2022

Feature Improvements

License purchase process

We’ve improved the license purchase experience!

From now on, Organizations are charged and invoiced right after purchasing their Member or Server licenses. Bulk purchasing is also available, with one invoice issued per bulk purchase.

Organizations can now also see more information about their active licenses on the Members and Servers pages.

August 10, 2022

New Features

Feature request forms

We’ve introduced 5 new feature request forms that make requesting extra server security settings easier. Here are brief descriptions of each request form:

1. Site-to-Site request form allows Organization Admins to safely request a secure tunnel configured between NordLayer and their business network. Learn more

2. SWG Browser Extension (Beta) request form allows Organization Admins to enable SWG access to a selected dedicated server(s) for their employees. Learn more

3. Deep Packet Inspection (Lite) request form allows Organization Admins to choose from around 250 custom ports and protocols to block on their virtual private gateway. Learn more

4. Custom DNS request form allows Organization Admins to securely pass their DNS server data to our support to set it up as their primary DNS server instead of using the default DNS solution. Learn more

5. DNS Filtering request form allows Organization Admins to choose from around 50 content categories to block on their virtual private gateway. Learn more

The new feature request forms are next to each server under “Configure”.

August 1, 2022

New Features

“Add more licenses” function

Purchasing additional licenses is now easier.

The new “Add more licenses” function allows self-managed organizations to purchase any number of extra licenses without contacting Account Managers.

Organization Administrators can find the new function here:

• Members page;
• Servers page;
• Invite new members form;
• Add servers to gateway form.

July 4, 2022

New Features

Two-factor authentication (2FA)

2FA authentication is live!

All Control Panel Members can now set up 2FA to increase security when logging in to the Control Panel.

Find more information on how to set up 2FA here.

Single sign-on (SSO)

SSO is live!

All Control Panel Members are now able to set up SSO to increase security when logging in to the Control Panel.

Members can choose from these SSO options: Google, OKTA, Azure AD, and OneLogin.

Email and password login method

Control Panel Administrators can now choose where to use the email and password login method. They can use it to log in to the Control Panel, apps, both, or neither.

Find more information here.

May 12, 2022

New Features

“Watch demo” button

Onboarding new Organization Administrators just got easier. The “Watch demo” button has been added to the onboarding page in the Control Panel.

From now on, new Administrators can easily access a detailed video overview to better understand and navigate the Control Panel.

Find the demo here.

Show or hide shared gateways in the apps

Control Panel Administrators now have the function to show or hide shared gateways for Organization Members in the apps.

Feature Improvements

Gateway column

A new Gateway column showing Organization Members’ gateway connection information has been added to the Connections tab in the Activity page. The column displays what gateways ⁠— shared or private ⁠— Members connect to.