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posted by janrinok on Friday September 13 2019, @09:24AM   Printer-friendly
from the follow-the-leader dept.

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/09/10/chrome_78_dnsoverhttps/

Only days after Mozilla said it plans to make DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) available by default gradually for Firefox users in the US, Google announced its intention to test DoH in Chrome 78, due for beta release in the next two weeks.

DoH wraps domain-name queries in a secure, encrypted HTTPS connection to a DNS server, rather than firing off requests using bog-standard plain-text insecure DNS, thereby keeping queries inaccessible to eavesdroppers. It's one of several emerging internet protocols intended to close security and privacy gaps in online communications.

Google's experiment will involve checking whether Chrome 78 users' DNS provider is among six services selected for their readiness to test DoH – Cleanbrowsing, Cloudflare, DNS.SB, Google, OpenDNS and Quad9. And if so, Chrome will switch from standard DNS to DoH using the same service provider, at least for those lucky few in the experimental group.

Google is thus avoiding one of the concerns raised by Mozilla's approach, forcing Firefox users to change their chosen DNS provider for Cloudflare. In so doing, Google ensures that malware screening and parental filtering capabilities offered by DNS providers will continue to function, if possible under DoH.


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  • (Score: 2) by inertnet on Friday September 13 2019, @12:08PM

    by inertnet (4071) on Friday September 13 2019, @12:08PM (#893600) Journal

    Hmm, Google could also provide different versions based on location. But that could easily be proven using a VPN, by switching server locations. Unless they keep a list of VPN server IP addresses.

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