A Safer DNS
Recently we have been hearing more about phishing and redirection attacks on internet connected client machines using hacked DNS or DHCP servers. If you have reason to distrust the security of your network provider's DNS, or you are just fed up with advertisements popping up when you mistype a URL. One such service that allows you to receive DNS service seperate from your network provider is called OpenDNS.
I have found that this service works on most ISPs, but sometimes if you are at a hotel or Wi-Fi hotspot that requires logging into a captive portal for payment, authentication, or to validate the terms of service, you may need to use their DNS first before switching the settings.
While you would have to put your trust in the providers at OpenDNS to keep their DNS servers hacker free, I would would rather use their service that rely on some random DNS server that is provided over a free WiFi connection. This is not to be construed as an endorsement, but I have been happy with their free service. There are a ton of other services out there, or you could even build your own DNS server and sync it to the ROOT DNS servers, but this solution is pretty mindless and mitigates a lot of security concerns.
IP addresses to use OpenDNS:
- 208.67.222.222 - Primary
- 208.67.220.220 - Secondary
