Cloudfare, along with Apple and Fastly, have developed a new DNS (Domain Name System) standard that can potentially make it difficult for internet service providers (ISP) from tracking what websites their users visit. In a blog post, the companies unveiled the Oblivious DNS (ODoH) protocol, that will will add a layer of encryption to shield the DNS queries not just from interception by external actors but also by ISPs. A bit of background on how websites work: When a user enters a website address (say medianama.com) into a browser, a DNS resolver converts the text to machine-readable IP address (ISPs decide which DNS resolvers are used on their networks, which users seldom change). In a simple set-up, the DNS queries are not encrypted, meaning both the DNS resolver, and third parties who may intercept them, can read them. There are newer protocols like DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) and DNS over TLS (DoT), which prevent interception, modification and redirection by third parties. However, the concern of resolvers being able to read DNS queries still remains. The ODoH will supposedly address this concern. Along with adding a layer of encryption to the queries, it will add a proxy layer between users and the target website. This will, according to Cloudflare, ensure that (i) the DNS resolvers will only know what website is being requested (ii) while only proxies know the identity of the user. Due to the encryption layer, the proxy itself will have no visibility into the DNS messages. Only the intended target…
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