DNS Filtering

Team members accessing unsafe or inappropriate websites at work can cause you problems when it comes to your cybersecurity, productivity, and liability. DNS filtering is an effective method for controlling what domains can be accessed from your network.

The internet poses one of the biggest threats to any businesses network. Unfortunately, you can’t simply not use the internet. Despite the risk, browsing the internet is necessary for almost every role in a modern business. This is why implementing DNS filtering is vital to keep your business network secure.

DNS is short for Domain Name System. A domain name system matches domain names (e.g., Facebook.com) to their IP address (e.g., 69.63.181.15). This allows users browsing the internet to navigate to different websites without having to remember a long string of numbers for each domain. This is similar to how your mobile phone contacts allow you to call your friends just by clicking on their name and without having to remember each individual phone number.

DNS filtering is short for Domain Name System filtering. It is a method of stopping users on your network from accessing websites or IP addresses deemed inappropriate or suspicious. Having a DNS filter enabled makes browsing the web safer as websites will be blocked automatically. When a page is blocked by your DNS filter, you will see a “block page” which explains the reason why this page was blocked. (e.g., “gambling site”, “adult content”, “malware”). If a user believes a page has been blocked in error, they can click a link on the block page and request that it is reviewed. This request can then be reviewed by your IT admin and action can be taken to whitelist the page if it is deemed appropriate to do so.

• Block Inappropriate Websites – By blocking websites not directly related to an employee’s job role you can improve productivity by removing the potential distractions of social media.
• Prevent Online Threats – An even bigger threat than lost productivity is potentially compromising your device or network by accidentally visiting a site with malware, ransomware or spyware on it. By blocking suspicious websites by default, you reduce the chances of encountering these threats. Of course, you should still exercise caution about the sites you visit, the links you click and the files you download.

Some businesses might want to block all social media. That might make sense if you’re an accountant but not if you’re a digital marketing company. Therefore, DNS filters are highly customisable. You can add known malicious sites to a blacklist or block all sites by default and only allow access to specific sites on a “whitelist.”