[GTALUG] DNS-over-HTTPS - what's the use?

Alvin Starr alvin at netvel.net
Mon Dec 23 10:19:30 EST 2019


On 12/23/19 10:04 AM, Giles Orr via talk wrote:
> Firefox now makes available DNS-over-HTTPS.  I'm a big fan of security
> and privacy, but I'm struggling to see the gains here: we stop some
> hypothetical observer from finding out what domain name we're querying
> ... and then immediately turn around and ask that domain for a web
> page.  You hid the destination in your first query ... only to
> immediately expose it with your next query.
That assumes a 1:1 relationship between the IP address and the domain 
name searched.
Web servers now supports the ability to have multiple domains appear on 
a single IP even with HTTPS.
So if your using a proxy service like Cloudflair then it may be very 
difficult to know exactly what domain the request is going to.
> I admit I'm thinking of our hypothetical advisor being at the ISP:
> they'll see both types of queries anyway.  I suppose the argument can
> be made that an observer on the path to the DNS but not at the ISP has
> been stymied, but this seems ... lower value.  Still, is that
> primarily what this will stop?
>

This will also make it harder for people who are on your wifi link to 
snoop on what your trying to connect to.
Still any security enhancement is a security enhancement and makes it 
harder for others to steal your information, and generally that is a 
good thing.

-- 
Alvin Starr                   ||   land:  (647)478-6285
Netvel Inc.                   ||   Cell:  (416)806-0133
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