The Domain Name System (DNS) is an integral part of the Internet and of the World Wide Web. It’s like a massive telephone book (if you remember such things!) that translates domain names such as Google.com, USBank.com, and Wikipedia.org into the site’s actual numeric address on the Internet. Without DNS, we’d have to type web addresses such as 198.35.26.96 into our browsers instead of memorable names such Wikipedia.org.
Given that DNS is crucial to the use of the Internet and the World Wide Web, what if someone hacked the Domain Name System and redirected names such as USBank.com to their own servers? For starters, they could collect the login information of every online customer and use that information to steal the money from the real USBank.com.
On the other hand, what if someone provided alternate DNS servers which would translate good domains correctly, and *not* translate requests to bad domains at all? We would instantly be protected from known scammers, malware sites, porn sites, etc. because the good DNS servers wouldn’t send our web browsers there!
Connect in to the September OCCA meeting on the last Tuesday of the month to learn various ways to use DNS to keep yourself, your family, your company, and your clients safer in everything they do on the Internet.