With the rise of spyware and cybercrime, it has become more important than ever to safeguard your privacy. An important step to do this is to enable Secure DNS on Google Chrome.
Secure DNS, or DNS over HTTPS as it is technically known, is a feature for ensuring the privacy and security of your web browser. But what exactly is Secure DNS? How does it work? What are the steps to enable secure DNS in Google Chrome? We will answer all these questions in this article.
What is DNS?
We access the Internet via alphanumeric web addresses. You can enter text strings such as “www.google.com” in the address bar of any browser to navigate on a website.
The fact is, these addresses don't really exist. Computers, as a rule, deal only with numbers. Each connected machine is identified by its IP address on the Internet, which consists solely of numbers. So how does internet surfing work?
Using the Domain Name System (DNS). Simply put, DNS is an online directory that matches domain names (like google.com) to their respective IP addresses. DNS servers are publicly accessible and are regularly used by web browsers to determine the correct IP addresses of websites.
Why is traditional DNS vulnerable to cyber attacks?
The problem with DNS lookup operations is that they were never designed with security or privacy in mind. Any enterprising hacker can intercept your browser's DNS requests and respond with false information.
Your browser can be diverted to a fake website or track your browsing activity. This can even be done by a malicious ISP, leaving your sensitive data in the hands of others.
How to enable secure DNS in Google Chrome
Originally, secure DNS was an experimental feature in Chrome. Activation required navigating some hidden browser menus. Now, however, secure DNS has been integrated into the normal operation of Google Chrome.
- To enable secure DNS on your computer, open a new tab on your browser and click the three-dot button at the top right.
- click on Safety.
- Scroll down and select Advanced . This is where you can enable DNS on your browser and specify which DNS server to use.
- By default, secure DNS should be enabled on your browser. But this is based on your ISP, which may or may not provide the service. It's best to switch to a more reliable DNS service. Use the drop-down menu to choose Google Public DNS .
Test the secure DNS on your browser
Simply enabling secure DNS on your browser isn't enough. There is no way to confirm that your DNS requests are encrypted, leaving you in the dark about your actual security status.
This is a problem if you are using your ISP's DNS servers. Not all Internet Service Providers have fully upgraded to the latest standards. This can give you a false sense of security while still operating without secure DNS.
Fortunately, it's easy to check whether your browser is using secure DNS or not. Many online tools check the security status of your DNS requests without any software installation. For this guide, we'll be using Cloudflare's online utility.
- To check if your browser is using secure DNS or not,.
- Click the button Check my browser to start scanning. The test will complete in seconds, displaying the results below.
As you can see, the test was unable to detect Secure DNS. You can solve this problem by using a different secure DNS server or by contacting your internet service provider. After enabling Google Chrome Secure DNS via CloudFlare, I was able to get a green check.
Conclusions
As hackers and cyber attacks increase day by day, the security measures to combat them also need to evolve to keep up. Secure DNS is one of the simplest ways to protect your privacy without drastic changes.
Your browser's DNS settings may seem like a small thing but they are a crucial component of internet security. Malicious entities can mess with your DNS requests to track your activity or direct you to dangerous sites.
It is therefore necessary to enable and test secure DNS on your Google Chrome browser.
