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October 6, 2019 11:59 pm

Big ISPs Worry DNS-Over-HTTPS Could Stop Monitoring and Modifying of DNS Queries

"Big Cable and other telecom industry groups warned that Google's support for DNS over HTTPS (DoH) 'could interfere on a mass scale with critical Internet functions, as well as raise data-competition issues,'" reports Ars Technica. But are they really just worried DNS over HTTPS will end useful ISP practices that involve monitoring or modifying DNS queries?For example, queries to malware-associated domains can be a signal that a customer's computer is infected with malware. In some cases, ISPs also modify customers' DNS queries in-flight. For example, an easy way to block children from accessing adult materials is with an ISP-level filter that rewrites DNS queries for banned domains. Some public Wi-Fi networks use modified DNS queries as a way to redirect users to a network sign-on page. Some ISPs also use DNS snooping for more controversial purposes -- like ad targeting or policing their networks for copyright infringement. Widespread adoption of DoH would limit ISPs' ability to both monitor and modify customer queries. It wouldn't necessarily eliminate this ability, since ISPs could still use these techniques for customers who use the ISP's own DNS servers. But if customers switched to third-party DNS servers -- either from Google or one of its various competitors -- then ISPs would no longer have an easy way to tell which sites customers were accessing. ISPs could still see which IP addresses a customer had accessed, which would give them some information -- this can be an effective way to detect malware infections, for example. But this is a cruder way to monitor Internet traffic. Multiple domains can share a single IP address, and domains can change IP addresses over time. So ISPs would wind up with reduced visibility into their customers' browsing habits. But a switch to DoH would clearly mean ISPs had less ability to monitor and manipulate their customers' browsing activity. Indeed, for advocates that's the point. They believe users, not their ISPs, should be in charge... [I]t's hard to see a policy problem here. ISPs' ability to eavesdrop on their customers' DNS queries is little more than a historical accident. In recent years, websites across the Internet have adopted encryption for the contents of their sites. The encryption of DNS is the natural next step toward a more secure Internet. It may require some painful adjustments by ISPs, but that hardly seems like a reason for policymakers to block the change.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.


Original Link: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/jAyyHvxI3gE/big-isps-worry-dns-over-https-could-stop-monitoring-and-modifying-of-dns-queries

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