When you’re trying to stay anonymous online, a VPN is the simplest solution.
But a DNS leak can totally undermine the purpose of a VPN, putting your privacy at risk.
Here’s how to keep that from happening.
What Is a DNS Leak?
The domain name system (DNS) is a system for linking URLs and IP addresses.
That’s called a DNS leak.
A DNS leak is only a privacy concern if you’re worried about your ISP monitoring your browsing.
It has nothing to do with NSA surveillance or other forms of digital snooping.
Obviously, this is far from ideal.
So let’s take a look at diagnosing and stopping it.
Fortunately, there’s an easy one to remember:www.dnsleaktest.com.
Just go to the site and click theStandard testbutton.
That’s not good.
you’re using the VPN’s DNS servers instead of the ISP’s).
If you’re not, and you’re concerned about ISP surveillance, you might want to consider switching.
Using VPN Monitoring Software
Some VPN monitoring software also includes support for fixing DNS leaks.
However, Teredo can sometimes cause DNS leaks, so you may want to disable it.
Tor uses onion routing to mask your IP address and online activity.
This includes masking your DNS requests, which lowers the chance of DNS leaks.
Note that privacy browsers like Tor are not completely immune to DNS leaks.
Rather, they make them less of a likelihood.
To drastically lower the chance of DNS leaks, consider using a privacy online window and a VPN simultaneously.
