OpenDNS to Begin Blocking and Tracking Conficker Traffic
Here is another one of those great “corporate features” from OpenDNS, that they will begin offering on Monday, February 9th. Dan Goodin, an author at The Register, wrote about OpenDNS rolling out a new feature to block and track Conficker traffic. While I haven’t been involved with any Conficker issues on any of the networks that I manage or consult for, it certainly is nice to have the option to be another step ahead, and proactive, just by using OpenDNS.
OpenDNS is ahead of the curve, and is raising the ball for other DNS providers. While there are those whom are skeptical about outsourcing your DNS, OpenDNS still remains a viable alternative for companies who may not want or need to invest many resources into configuring and maintaining their own DNS servers. If privacy issues are a concern, read up on the OpenDNS Privacy Policy, as well David Ulevitch is often quite transparent and helpful to those whom have questions. (If you are one of those companies, however, that want to run their own DNS server(s) let me know and I can help you out)
Check out Dan’s article OpenDNS rolls out Conficker tracking, blocking at The Register for more information.
To use OpenDNS on your network head on over to their getting started page.
Update: 2/9/09 - OpenDNS made their official announcement
Update 2: 2/9/09 - David Ulevitch posted an entry on the OpenDNS blog explaining well the new feature:
Today we’ve rolled out a way for you to see if Conficker is living on your network. The Conficker worm, also called Downadup and Kido, is massive. Some estimates of how many PCs are compromised are as high as 10 million. What’s interesting about this particular virus is that it uses the Domain Name System in a unique way: Conficker contains an algorithm that checks 250 new domains per day for instructions on what it should do. This puts us in a unique position to keep you safe since we’re in the unique position of providing insight and intelligence into your DNS service. We’ve teamed with Kaspersky Lab to identify those 250 daily domains, and stop resolving them. This means if you’re using OpenDNS, Conficker will do your network no damage. Yet another reason for your friends and colleagues to make the switch. While OpenDNS represents just a tiny drop in the sea of the Internet users today, we think this is a smart move forward.
