Cybersecurity and knowledge privateness are delicate points nowadays. Companies, establishments, and even people have began taking it severely and implementing efficient methods to mitigate on-line threats.
On-line threats like hacking, phishing assaults, DDoS assaults, malware injection, spy ware, ransomware, and many others., are rising because the expertise advances. In consequence, it’s important to watch on-line actions and defend your children, units, knowledge, and workers from compromises.
That stated, DNS filtering will help you defend your group and residential from these points or cut back the possibilities of a cybercrime.
This text explains all you could find out about DNS and Net filtering and the way it will help you. Additionally, I’ll be overlaying a DNS filter – SafeDNS and share its evaluate with you all.
What’s DNS filtering?
DNS filtering refers to a course of that makes use of the Area Identify System (DNS) to filter and block inappropriate or dangerous content material and malicious web sites. It helps you retain your knowledge safe and get higher management over the stuff your workers can entry in your networks that your organization manages.
DNS filters are one of many important instruments you could preserve in your cybersecurity toolkit or entry management technique to be on the safer facet of this extremely dangerous our on-line world.
Actually, DNS filtering is a type of internet filtering. And internet filtering refers to an unlimited time period with totally different ideas to regulate internet site visitors and supply security. Aside from DNS filtering, different sorts of internet filtering are content material filtering, key phrase filtering, and URL filtering.
What’s DNS?
Now, in case you are considering – what a DNS is, it will not be simple to grasp how DNS or internet filtering works to assist companies. Let’s perceive it within the subsequent part.
A DNS matches a site title to an IP handle. Suppose geekflare.com is a site title, and 174.16.2.1 is the IP handle. DNS is required to permit customers to entry websites with out memorizing an IP handle with a protracted set of numbers. As an alternative, they will enter a web site’s title, which makes it simple to recollect.
So, when you enter a site title in your browser, your machine makes a DNS question that goes to a DNS resolver – a particular internet server. Subsequent, the DNS resolver matches the area title within the question to an IP handle by checking it in its cache or querying different DNS servers.
Moreover, the DNS resolves then sends your machine the right IP handle. Lastly, your machine makes use of this IP handle to contact the webserver to begin the connection and cargo its content material.
The work of DNS is that will help you entry internet content material. If there is no such thing as a DNS course of within the background, you can’t load a web site’s content material. That is what DNS filtering leverages, making it an efficient method to have entry management on customers.
How does DNS filtering assist companies?
As mentioned above, each DNS question goes to a DNS resolver. If a DNS resolver is specifically configured, it could work like internet filters by declining to resolve a question for a site showing in its blocklist. This manner, it could limit customers from accessing malicious domains.
For instance, a DNS filter in your group’s community will test all of the queries coming out of your workers requesting to go to totally different websites. The DNS filter will look into its blocklist to search out the requested web site. It should solely enable resolving these requests that aren’t on the blocklist whereas blocking others within the checklist.
This manner, your group will likely be secure from malicious assaults as nobody can entry any dangerous websites.
Furthermore, some DNS filtering options make the most of an allowlist containing an inventory of secure domains and grant entry to queries coming for them whereas blocking others. A DNS filter can blocklist the web sites, internet pages, and different internet properties by an IP handle or area title.
- If the DNS filtering answer blocklists by area, it is not going to resolve the IP addresses of domains.
- If it blocks by IP handle, it is going to attempt to resolve all sorts of domains. Nevertheless, if it finds an IP handle on a blocklist, it wouldn’t ship it to the querying machine.
Use-cases of Net/DNS filtering
DNS filters will limit malicious software program, malware, viruses, phishing assaults, and many others., out of your units or networks to supply security to a corporation.
- Blocking phishing websites: Trying like an official web site, phishing websites are created to steal customers’ login credentials. They will simply deceive customers with their seems to be that almost all customers received’t doubt. A DNS filter can block them, however not all DNS filters can. It’s primarily based on the capabilities of a DNS filter to establish a web site as dangerous. Even when it blocks, the attackers can shortly create new domains, and blocklisting all of them is tough.
- Proscribing malicious websites: A web site containing malware sends customers malicious applications and tries to trick customers into downloading them. And after they do, this system will get triggered routinely and causes hurt to their units when it comes to knowledge theft, corruption, and different compromises. DNS filters are employed in these situations to dam these assaults and forestall customers from downloading such malware.
- Blocking prohibited content material: DNS filtering companies blocklist the domains and IP addresses that include prohibited content material. Therefore, even when an worker tries accessing them, they’d be denied entry.
- Creating an allowlist: You’ll be able to create an allowlist and add websites that you just approve to be secure. The DNS filtering service will all the time allow you to entry these websites and block others.
The significance of DNS filtering
As your community grows, the assault floor retains on growing. Additionally, cybersecurity points are rising at rampant charges, involving malware, viruses, DDoS assaults, phishing assaults, and many others. These points can compromise a corporation’s community, units, and knowledge at any time in time and area.
Suppose an worker from a corporation receives some safety alert by means of electronic mail requiring their credentials or prompting them to take some actions to resolve the problem. It could seem to customers that the alert got here from contained in the group or their IT division with the right sender title, however the actuality can be totally different. Unsuspecting workers enter their particulars making an attempt to resolve points, and the worker is phished. Their credential is compromised. In actuality, they obtained a pretend request from a fraudulent web site.
That is a technique that cyber attackers can hurt organizations, and there are numerous different methods to take action. They might redirect a consumer to an internet site by means of malicious advertisements or navigate them to a hacked web site with malicious content material being downloaded silently within the background.
Such situations are frequent nowadays, and blocking all of them is tough. Because of this you want cybersecurity options like DNS or internet filtering. You may also mix different types of safety options like multi-factor authentication, anti-virus software program, electronic mail safety answer, and many others., as various kinds of threats might have further layers of safety. Even when a way fails or turns into much less efficient, others can keep safety.
Moreover, DNS filtering is an important cybersecurity technique that may block threats from the server stage to supply wide-ranging safety. It’s not solely swift but in addition there may be little to no latency. There are numerous advantages related to DNS filtering, comparable to:
- In faculties, DNS filtering prohibits college students from accessing malicious and unlawful web sites on a college community. Colleges may handle the web accessibility of their employees as effectively at a granular scale to guard their community from exterior threats and knowledge loss.
- It affords secure internet shopping by serving to you safe your private data from malicious websites injecting spy ware, phishing assaults, ransomware, malware, and viruses.
- DNS filtering will enable you to defend your machine it doesn’t matter what sort of machine you utilize – smartphone, pill, or desktop. It safeguards your machine from potential viruses that may get put in remotely and harm the machine’s features and/or knowledge.
- Your knowledge could get stolen by malicious intent, and when you haven’t backed them up, you might lose it ceaselessly. However DNS filtering will help you defend your valuable knowledge by retaining the community safe.
- It should implement sure insurance policies for web utilization.
- Your organizational productiveness can improve when customers can have all their concentrate on work as a substitute of losing time shopping counter-productive, pointless websites.
- You’ll be able to restrict the opportunity of HIPAA violations utilizing DNS filters and blocking consumer entry to social media networks, private webmail, and messenger companies.
Why are Cloud-based options higher?
Cloud-based DNS filters are even higher than conventional techniques. They don’t want any software program installations, infrastructure necessities, storage issues, or fastened fee. You’ll be able to leverage your answer supplier firm’s DNS infrastructure and scale up and down primarily based in your wants.
As well as, you aren’t restricted when it comes to software program assets. You’ll be able to improve or lower the variety of customers and assets simply with a click on. Aside from that, you’ll be able to set it up shortly and effortlessly and begin safeguarding your community immediately. You may also combine it with different companies to regulate your group, customers, and places successfully.
To not point out, it can save you quite a bit with cloud-based DNS filtering as you’ll solely pay for the assets you utilize, in contrast to conventional techniques that wanted a set fee per thirty days irrespective of when you use the service or not.
One of many best DNS filtering options is SafeDNS, which will help you block malicious websites and supply safety from totally different points like phishing assaults, malware, and many others. I had an opportunity to make use of it and due to this fact need to evaluate it to let you know the way superior it may be in your organizational community.
DNS filtering with SafeDNS
SafeDNS is a cloud-based internet filtering answer that may safeguard your group or household by blocking cyber threats and objectionable content material when a consumer browses the web in your community.
It’s among the many oldest industrial DNS options and one of many earliest to supply DNS-based content material filtering. Providing its companies since 2013, it has garnered many accolades and awards for its spectacular options.
A number of the use circumstances the place SafeDNS can shine are:
- Companies: SafeDNS works nice for companies in defending their community from phishing and malware. As well as, it permits you to maximize worker productiveness by implementing internet utilization insurance policies.
- Training and libraries: The DNS filter helps keep a secure internet shopping atmosphere for college kids and employees in universities, excessive faculties, and kindergartens. Additionally it is appropriate for academic establishments to keep up compliance.
- Non-profits: Nonprofits can safeguard their community from inappropriate or offensive content material, making the community child-friendly.
- Houses: Utilizing SafeDNS helps safe households from undesirable websites and on-line threats.
- Companions and telecoms: Keep consumer security and enhance your closing deliverables or outcomes utilizing SafeDNS’s customized options.
- Software program and {hardware} distributors: Distributors can use an internet categorization database and complement their merchandise’ worth and performance.
The answer works wonderful for Wi-Fi filtering, controlling totally different roles, and filtering networks on every machine.
What are the options of SafeDNS?
Listed below are the primary options that I preferred about SafeDNS:
- Capability to create a number of profiles: You’ll be able to create profiles with a transparent algorithm relevant for DNS filtering. This works for a house community the place you’ll be able to create separate profiles for teenagers and adults.
- SafeDNS Agent: On Home windows, utilizing this function will enable you to swap to a different community. Net filtering guidelines will nonetheless work on the assigned profiles.
- Content material filtering: This function filters site visitors primarily based on their content material. SafeDNS has 60+ content material classes housing 109+ million websites, together with botnets, virus spreading domains, phishing websites, playing, pornography, and many others. This helps your group and residential safe from dangerous content material.
- Specifying URLs to permit or block: You’ll be able to specify some URLs by yourself to both enable or block, and people websites won’t ever be accessible to you when you use SafeDNS’s internet filters.
Aside from these, you get extra options like intuitive entry controls, distant entry, app safety like anti-virus, simple machine, and endpoint administration. Moreover, you get exercise monitoring and monitoring, conduct analytics, and reporting.
How simple is SafeDNS to make use of?
When you join SafeDNS, establishing your account and utilizing it isn’t a lot bother. First, add the SafeDNS server’s IP handle to particular person units or routers(most popular). This answer works on working techniques like Home windows, Mac, Linux, and iOS and Android cellular units.
SafeDNS has a clear dashboard that you need to use to grasp how you can set up it for Home windows. Subsequent, use your credentials and log into the SafeDNS agent. Doing this may inform SafeDNS of the machine’s present IP handle. As well as, you could possibly decide to stick to their filtering coverage it doesn’t matter what community you’re in.
After establishing the machine, outline your filtering guidelines and create profiles primarily based on what number of profiles are allowed in your plan. You may also use content material filtering classes to make sure no dangerous content material may be accessed in your community and have higher entry controls by blocklisting and permit itemizing domains.
Moreover, you’ll be able to ask for blocklist customization and consider queries with statistics containing sender profiles and different knowledge. Total, SafeDNS received’t take a lot of your time to kick off and proceed utilizing.
Furthermore, when you encounter any points, you’ll be able to undergo the FAQs, setup guides, knowledgebase, and have requests on their official web site. Or, contact them immediately by means of telephone name or write them an electronic mail.
Pricing
As SafeDNS affords options throughout a number of industries, there are totally different plans for them. All of them have a 15-day FREE trial without having for a bank card for signing up.
Companies:
There are six plans:
- Secure@Office5: $80/yr for five customers and 5 filtering profiles
- Secure@Office10: $150/yr for 10 customers and 10 filtering profiles
- Secure@Office25: $350/yr for 25 customers and 25 filtering profiles
- Secure@Office50: $600/yr for 50 customers and 50 filtering profiles
- Secure@Office75: $785/yr for 75 customers and 75 filtering profiles
- Secure@Office100: $970/yr for 100 customers and 100 filtering profiles
Dwelling
- Secure@Dwelling: $19.95/yr for 3 filtering profiles, affords safety to each Wi-Fi router and residential community.
Non-profit
- Secure@Nonprofit: $150/yr for 3 filtering profiles
Training
- Secure@Training: $300/yr for 10 filtering profiles and 200 customers/campus
Case Research
Case I: A Canadian monetary establishment wanted to arrange a safe web atmosphere for its workers. On the identical time, a few of the workers labored remotely. The SafeDNS answer allowed them to regulate all site visitors, together with distant computer systems, thus, avoiding phishing assaults and defending company knowledge.
Case II: A life-style firm from the UK that provides its company recreation facilities, health, swimming swimming pools, golf programs, and theaters wanted to create a secure Web area for each customer. By integrating the SafeDNS answer, the corporate supplied safe Wi-Fi throughout all subsidiaries and offered child-friendly content material in its facilities. The variety of guests to the facilities after implementing the adjustments elevated by 22%
Case III: The most important B2B Web supplier in Latin America expanded its service portfolio and appeared for brand spanking new options to generate further earnings. After the implementation of SafeDNS ISP, the variety of linked enterprise customers elevated by 35%, and the service itself introduced the supplier $ 165,000
Conclusion: Must you use SafeDNS? 👨💻
Utilizing a DNS filtering service is a vital a part of sustaining your community or Wi-Fi safety. SafeDNS didn’t disappoint me in doing that primarily based on my expertise. It might assist companies, houses, non-profits, and academic establishments safe their community and guarantee no knowledge is stolen or compromised attributable to on-line threats. Its helpful filtering capabilities, functionalities, and usefulness are what I preferred essentially the most.
And when you too need to attempt it, go for his or her 15-days FREE trial to check its effectivity.