Secure European public DNS improves your internet privacy

Enjoying a safer, more private internet and avoiding inappropriate content is possible with DNS0, a secure European public DNS.

What is DNS?

DNS0 is a secure European public DNS, but what is a DNS? DNS stands for Domain Name System. In very simple words, it is like the phone book of the Internet. Every time we want to visit a website, the first thing the browser does is to ask for the IP address of the server we want to visit and when it gets the address it can start the connection. All the devices with which we connect have to use a DNS service to be able to surf the Internet.

Our mobile phone or internet provider usually configures the DNS on our phone and home wifi router, but it is something we can change and it is generally recommended to do so.

It is a fundamental part of our internet connection as it can affect multiple aspects such as the speed, privacy and security of our internet connection.

If the DNS is slow, it can cause our browsing speed to be slow even if we have a high speed internet connection.

It can also be used to keep a list of the websites we visit, build user browsing profiles and sell them to third parties for multiple purposes such as advertising.

A DNS that filters and ignores requests for access to dangerous websites can increase the security of our Internet connection. Without going any further, if it filters and ignores requests for access to websites with inappropriate content for minors, it can be a very effective tool to prevent our children from accessing websites with pornography, violence, gambling and other similar content.

For all these reasons, we should not settle for just any DNS service configured on our connected devices and we should freely choose the DNS service that best suits our needs. Moreover, configuring a DNS is not difficult.

DNS0: public, secure, European and respectful of your privacy

DNS0 is a European public DNS service that can make your Internet browsing safer. In short, a recursive, free, sovereign and RGPD-compliant DNS resolver with a strong emphasis on security to protect EU citizens and organisations.

dns0.eu is a French non-profit organisation founded in 2022 by Romain Cointepas and Olivier Poitrey – co-founders of NextDNS.

Main features:

• Fast, distributed and resilient 100% European infrastructure. Distributed across multiple hosting providers in each EU member state.
• End-to-end encryption with modern protocols that are not vulnerable to eavesdropping and tampering by malicious or compromised network intermediaries. DNS-over-HTTPS, DNS-over-TLS and others.
• Built-in protection against millions of malicious domains, from phishing websites to C&C servers.

Configuration options:

Instructions for configuring DNS0 on iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Browsers, Routers, Linux, ChromeOS and Others on the DNS0 website.

ZERO

It is the security-enhanced choice for highly sensitive environments. It greatly increases the detection rate of malicious domains, especially in their critical first hours, by combining human-vetted threat intelligence with advanced heuristics that automatically identify high-risk patterns.

This is probably the best choice for enterprises and public and private institutions. The main features are:

• Blocks domains registered less than 30 days ago. Threat actors have been known to favour such domains to launch malicious campaigns.
• Block domains that, after being inactive for a while, suddenly become active. This behaviour is often a sign of malicious activity.
• Block domains generated by domain generation algorithms (DGAs) found in various malware families that can be used as rendezvous points to your command and control servers.
• Blocks domains that impersonate other domains by abusing the large character set available with the advent of internationalised domain names (IDNs) – for example, by replacing the Latin letter “e” with the Cyrillic letter “е”.
• Blocks domains registered by malicious actors that target users who incorrectly enter a website address in their browser, e.g. gooogle.com instead of google.com.
• Prevents attackers from taking control of your local devices over the Internet by automatically blocking DNS responses that contain private IP addresses.

KIDS

It is an option that allows you to have a child-proof version of the Internet that is free of content unsuitable for children.

It can make any device or network safe for children in just a few seconds. By filtering out content on the Internet that is not suitable for children, you can provide a safe online environment for children at home, at school and while travelling.

If you want to keep your children safe online and also prevent them from accessing inappropriate content, this is the option for you. It is also a very good option for schools in general.

• Blocks websites containing pornographic, gambling and other adult content.
• Filters explicit results in major search engines, including images and videos. This will also block access to search engines that do not support this feature.
• Filter adult videos on YouTube and block embedded adult videos from being viewed on other websites. This will also hide all comments.
• Blocks all dating websites and apps that could be used by predators.
• Block websites that contain adult material, even if their main purpose is to host content suitable for children, e.g. Reddit, Twitter, …
• Block torrent websites, protocols, copyright infringing streaming websites and generic video hosting websites that are primarily used to illegally distribute copyrighted content.
• Most advertisements on the Internet are not specifically designed, and are not suitable, for children.

How to set it up

The DNS0 website includes instructions for setting it up on iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Browsers, Routers, Linux, ChromeOS and Others.

A summary is included here:

For other configuration options, see the DNS0 website.