WebProNews

Tag: OpenDNS

  • Google Wants to Save Users From DNSChanger Malware

    It has been widely reported that the FBI and Internet Systems Consortium have been keeping formerly rogue DNS servers running to ensure internet access for millions of computer users who have been infected with malware that changed their DNS server. These rogue servers were used to feed ads or channel users to infected websites. The FBI recently announced that it would be shutting down these servers in July, potentially cutting off internet access for a large number of users who are caught unawares.

    To prevent this, Google is going to use its popularity to notify users of infected computers. The search engine will notify users using a large warning at the top of a Google search results page. The warning will only appear on computers that are infected.

    This announcement came on the Google Online Security Blog in a Google+Online+Security+Blog%29″>post by Google Security Engineer Damian Menscher. From the post:

    Our goal with this notification is to raise awareness of DNSChanger among affected users. We believe directly messaging affected users on a trusted site and in their preferred language will produce the best possible results. While we expect to notify over 500,000 users within a week, we realize we won’t reach every affected user. Some ISPs have been taking their own actions, a few of which will prevent our warning from being displayed on affected devices. We also can’t guarantee that our recommendations will always clean infected devices completely, so some users may need to seek additional help. These conditions aside, if more devices are cleaned and steps are taken to better secure the machines against further abuse, the notification effort will be well worth it.

    This isn’t the first time Google has used its considerable influence to try and help users protect their computers against malware. Last July, Google issued similar warnings to users who were being redirected through proxies by fake antivirus software.

  • Unblock The Pirate Bay By Switching DNS Servers

    This is a note to our friends across the pond, friends who may be freaking out about the news of The Pirate Bay potentially being blocked in the United Kingdom. While the news may come as a shock, especially in a country that’s so outspokenly against ACTA, all hope should not be abandoned.

    In fact, there’s an easy fix, one that clearly demonstrates the futility of uninformed government officials trying to regulate something they don’t understand. Simply put, if you want to “unblock” TPB, just switch DNS servers.

    Much like defeating SOPA measures with IP addresses (instead of domain names), users who want to access TPB but can’t, you might want to think about switching your DNS server, something that is easier than the idea may suggest. However, thanks to a quick how-to by Torrent Freak, you’ll see it’s not that complicated at all. In fact, all you need to know in order to do such a changeover is the IP address for the DNS server you’d like to use:

    For the two main alternatives, these are:

    – OpenDNS: 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220

    – GoogleDNS: 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4

    You can configure an alternative DNS server on a per-computer basis, or for your whole network. The first one is the quickest, probably easiest solution, the last one has the huge advantage that all devices on your network will use the new DNS automatically, without the need to configure them all.

    From here, TF points to different pieces of documentation, explaining how the configuration process works. Over at OpenDNS, the Windows Vista configuration page is about as easy to follow as one can make it. There are step-by-step screenshots, just in case you can get confused.

    For those of you who might be worried that such a bold move would attract the authorities, as Torrent Freak points out, “there’s nothing illegal about using an alternative DNS server.” While this may not be true in an authoritarian country like China, England and its United Kingdom are not quite at that level of citizen control, at least not yet. Of course, if you get caught downloading files in a manner that’s deemed illegal, it won’t matter what kind of DNS server you used.

  • Facebook, MySpace, YouTube Named Top Blacklisted Sites Of 2010

    Social media sites like Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube continue to polarize corporations and people in charge of networks, judging by a new report from OpenDNS.  The sites showed up on both "top blacklisted" and "top whitelisted" lists covering the entire year of 2010.

    If you’d like a definition of those terms, OpenDNS said in its report, "Blacklists are typically used when there is no desire to block an entire category in principle, but there is a focus on preventing traffic to specific websites based on a combination of their popularity and content.  This top ten list suggests a concern with the use of bandwidth by streaming sites and with privacy concerns from advertising networks."

    Then the company added, "Whitelists are typically used when there is a desire to block entire categories, but access to selected websites is granted on an exception basis.  These sites represent the most trusted sites in their category."

    All sorts of interpretations seem possible as a result.  An unpleasant one for Mark Zuckerberg: perhaps companies like Facebook less than Playboy.  Or, to head in the other direction, maybe the average office worker prefers Facebook to Playboy, thereby necessitating the "blacklist" response.

    Either way, the sites appearing on these lists can at least argue that they’ve succeeded in attracting everyone’s attention.  And home usage is likely to be high as a result, since blacklists and whitelists can’t restrict everyone’s browsing all the time.