Get Secure DNS ???

Hey all...

Just like you guys know , what the hack is DNS cache poisoning and how it can harm you .. right ?? But still there are some "safe" places on internet ( or places that creates illusion of safety !! who knows .. ) ... anyways ... the topic of discussion here is , these guys ... Open DNS ...




Like we know ,what happens when DNS breaks. As i wrote , previously the DNS system translates computer names into IP addresses. So if it breaks, it may seem that your Internet connection is broken when in fact, it's fully functional. That is, from your ISP's (who is providing you local DNS) perspective everything can be working fine, all the lights on your modem and router* can be normal, but still, you can't get to any Web sites without DNS being alive and well...

On the other hand , these OpenDNS people , provieds same service as does the ISP's DNS provides , ( err .. means providing name server service ) .. but they have some "built-in" countermeasures which prevents user for getting poisoned ... and accidently opening sites which are not good for them ... well its only one of many feature they provide ... read more ...

Speed and reliability

OpenDNS claims to be fast. I don't doubt this is true, but this is probably not reason enough to switch. For one, it may or may not be faster than the DNS servers you now use. And even if it is faster, the speed boost may not be noticeable (it wasn't to me). Still, it's not hard to find people who claim the Internet runs faster after switching to OpenDNS ... but you can check by your self here ...

Phishing

Phishing protection is perhaps the most defensive computing reason to use OpenDNS. Of course, the latest versions of Firefox and Internet Explorer also include phishing protection. There should be no conflict between the protection from your browser and from OpenDNS. Neither Mozilla nor Microsoft say where their phishing data (the list of known bad Web sites) comes from. In typical corporate-speak, Microsoft says it comes from "several industry partners." OpenDNS gets its list of phishing Web sites from Phish Tank , a sister company it describes as "...a collaborative clearing house for data and information about phishing on the Internet." Anyone can report suspected phishing Web sites to PhishTank not even OpenDNS user !!!

Typos

Another type of intelligence added to the DNS name -> IP address translation involves typing mistakes. OpenDNS fixes a handful of common mistakes and sends you to the place you probably wanted to go in the first place. OpenDNS users can get to CNET using either cnet.cmo or cnet.comm. Not earth-shattering, but all in all, a nice feature to have.

Site blocking

If you sign up for an account at OpenDNS, then it can block Web sites for you. At home, this could be used to keep children from playing online games while they are supposed to be doing their homework. In a corporate setting, it can be used to prevent access to Webmail as a way of encouraging employees to use the corporate e-mail system. OpenDNS is able to, for example, block Yahoo e-mail (mail.yahoo.com), while still allowing access to the rest of Yahoo. Adult site blocking is a good feature of it ....

But if you know a "little" more then required computing , you can bypass this feature by chaning DNS servers itself !!! ( of course you must have administartor rights , but still its not "that"hard .. right ?? )

With all these features "free" , one simple question may arise ... if they are all proving all this free then how they earn their bread ??? right ?? well , here is the anwer in their own words ...

"OpenDNS makes money by offering clearly labeled advertisements alongside organic search results when the domain entered is not valid and not a typo we can fix. OpenDNS will provide additional services on top of its enhanced DNS service, and some of them may cost money. Speedy, reliable DNS will always be free."

Well , I am using it from last week , err ... i have not felt any changes , but i liked the features provided by them ... moreover , as was in recent news about DNS cache poisoning , there was another news , stating that , OpenDNS servers were remain un-effected , due to their ways ...

enjoy ...