YNOT – You probably don’t think very often about how that URL you type into your browser gets translated into directions that show your computer how to reach your intended destination on the internet. In fact, if you’re like most internet surfers, you probably never worried about the settings for your Domain Name Service (DNS) when you signed on with your current ISP; most service providers offer a default DNS, and most customers are happy to use it.If Google gets its way though, all of this obliviousness might start to change.
Google has announced one of its latest projects. It’s a public DNS service that Google insists will increase performance, enhance security and provide more “accurate” results. Named simply Google Public DNS, the free service is still considered an “experiment” at the moment, but it’s open to the curious who’d like to give it a try.
On the issue of performance, Google argues that modern website design involves pages that pull content from a number of different places, meaning multiple DNS queries just to construct a single page in a browser window. Since they say the average user is responsible for hundreds of queries each day, the load on the DNS servers of service providers is increasing. Google also argues that inefficiencies in the methods that ISPs use for caching can also slow down performance by causing cache “misses.”
On the security side, Google claims their public DNS will reduce the risk of surfers being unwittingly redirected to bogus sites.
“DNS is vulnerable to various kinds of spoofing attacks that can ‘poison’ a nameserver’s cache and route its users to malicious sites,” Google wrote in its website. “The prevalence of DNS exploits means that providers have to frequently apply server updates and patches. In addition, open DNS resolvers are vulnerable to being used to launch denial-of-service (DoS) attacks on other systems. To defend against such attacks, Google has implemented several recommended solutions to help guarantee the authenticity of the responses it receives from other nameservers, and to ensure our servers are not used for launching DoS attacks. These include adding entropy to requests, rate-limiting client traffic, and more.”
As for delivering more accurate results, it seems that Google is critical of ISPs who use instances of mistyped or non-existent domain names to redirect users to advertising.
“Sometimes, in the case of a query for a mistyped or non-existent domain name, the right answer means no answer, or an error message stating the domain name could not be resolved,” Google wrote, pointing out that it plans to adhere strictly to DNS standards. “Google Public DNS never blocks, filters, or redirects users, unlike some open resolvers and ISPs.”
If there are no advertising dollars with providing a public DNS option, then why is Google offering the service? Google is in the information business, and some have speculated that Google could be interested in adding to its commanding advantage in information on the habits of internet users.
“The DNS allows Google to control the routing of internet traffic, and see much of the user information typically held only by ISPs,” wrote Jason Mick for DailyTech.com. “Google insists, though, that it’s working hard to keep its users info private and anonymous. It says that it will only save user IPs for 24 to 48 hours, and that’s only to protect against attacks or identify technical problems. It will store your “metro-level” (probably city and state) location and the pages you visit — but it says that info isn’t associated with any information that can identify you (like IP logs).”
And Tony Bradley, writing for PC World, pointed to the privacy concerns that seem to surface in almost every new project that Google announces.
“Privacy is a concern with virtually everything Google touches,” Bradley wrote. “The very nature of many of Google’s core offerings is based on cataloging and indexing every possible detail about everything. To provide the best search results, it has to create the most comprehensive site index. To provide the most detailed maps, it has to painstakingly catalog every street in the world. Sometimes the goal of providing information oversteps the privacy boundary.”
Those interested in trying out the news Google Public DNS can find instructions here: http://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/docs/using.html
