DNS vulnerability: test, resolve
Posted by Jacque on July 29th, 2008
I confess that not being a professional IT-type, I don’t always pay enough attention to some issues I should notice. I first became aware of DNS vulnerability and the OpenDNS solution reading this post a few days ago.
The recommendation was to start using OpenDNS because it is free, it speeds web surfing a bit, and it helps protect you against phishing and other nasty stuff.
Then when I saw Lifehacker’s post today, I got a bit more of a kick-start from its links to a place where one can check one’s own DNS server (see image from my test) and also to get a tutorial from Webmonkey on how to set up OpenDNS.
Yes, web surfers, we should all be paying attention. Despite being largely transparent, the DNS system is not without its problems, says the Webmonkey post.
A recent flaw allowed the attacker to fool a DNS server into redirecting web surfers to malicious web sites. A patch was developed, but how do you know your ISP has applied the patch? You can bypass your ISP’s DNS server and use a service like OpenDNS.