How to Enable DNS Over HTTPS in Your Web Browser
Mozilla has begun rolling out DNS over HTTPS to all Firefox users, a major security change designed to address the issue of third-party spying on the websites you visit. Usually, when you type a website into the address bar of your browser and press Enter, your browser uses DNS to match the domain name to the actual IP address of the server you are trying to connect to – the one that hosts the website you are looking for. … visit.
DNS requests are usually not encrypted, which means that these requests can be leaked and easily intercepted by a third party. This allows each of the advertiser hackers to easily see which sites you are trying to open, even if the sites themselves are encrypted (HTTPS). As the Center for Democracy and Technology describes :
This process happens every time you enter an address in your browser, every time you send an email, and every time you click a link. Some websites may contain content that is embedded from other domains, in which case the page itself may initiate additional DNS requests. This way, even if all the actual content of the sites you visit is encrypted, the DNS resolver (and everyone who controls the network) sees every site you visit every time you visit. This record can be used to determine what you are watching, what information you are looking for, when and how you use the Internet, and other personally identifiable information. Some DNS providers sell or use this information for targeted advertising.
In addition to the privacy implications of third-party monitoring and selling your Internet usage, DNS poses significant security concerns. In particular, DNS is vulnerable to attacker-in-the-middle attacks, in which an attacker (not the DNS service) intercepts a DNS request and returns an invalid IP address, potentially directing a user to a malicious site. This spoofing attack can be mitigated with additional validation procedures such as DNSSEC, but many domains do not.
Mozilla writes that with DNS over HTTPS enabled, your browsing history should be much more hidden from potential attackers and companies trying to track what you do online. But Firefox isn’t the only browser that can handle DNS over HTTPS. Here’s a quick overview of how to enable DNS over HTTPS in all major browsers, including Mozilla, if you’re impatient and don’t want to wait for the deployment to begin.
Mozilla Firefox
- Click the hamburger icon in the upper right corner of your browser, and then click Options.
- Scroll down to Network Settings under General Settings and click the Settings button.
- Click Enable DNS over HTTPS and choose a provider such as CloudFlare, or enter your own in the Custom section.
Google Chrome
- Copy and paste this into your browser address bar and press Enter: chrome: // flags / # dns-over-https.
- Select the Secure DNS lookup checkbox and restart your browser.
- Make sure you toggle the network settings of your operating system . Instead of automatically getting DNS from your ISP, you want to force it to use one of the ISPs from the Chrome mapping table .
Edge Chromium
- Copy and paste this into your browser address bar and press Enter: edge: // flags / # dns-over-https.
- Select the Secure DNS lookup checkbox and restart your browser.
- Make sure you toggle the network settings of your operating system . Instead of automatically getting DNS from your ISP, you will want to force it to use one of the ISPs that support DNS over HTTPS .
Brave
- Copy and paste this into your browser address bar and press Enter: brave: // flags / # dns-over-https.
- Select the Secure DNS lookup checkbox and restart your browser.
- Make sure you toggle the network settings of your operating system . Instead of automatically getting DNS from your ISP, you will want to force it to use one of the ISPs that support DNS over HTTPS .
How to tell if DNS over HTTPS is working properly
Just visit the Cloudflare help page , which will run a quick check to see if your browser is using DNS over HTTPS:
How about a safari?
Sorry Mac fans. Apple has not yet implemented this feature in Safari, but I expect the company to do so at some point. Apple, which puts a lot of emphasis on privacy and the like, would have no reason to be the only company not offering DNS over HTTPS in its main browser.