How to Enable DNS Over HTTPS in Your Browser

Here we can see, “How to Enable DNS Over HTTPS in Your Browser”

DoH (DNS over HTTPS) is a relatively new privacy method that is gradually gaining traction. The protocol encrypts Domain Name System (DNS) queries, making them inaccessible to prying eyes. At the same time, the industry has expressed some scepticism.

Let’s take a look at the benefits and drawbacks of DoH, as well as how to enable it in your preferred browser.

What Is DNS?

Unique IP addresses are strings of digits separated by periods like 172.217.1.174 (in the case of IPv4) or sequences of letters and digits separated by colons 2607:f8b0:400b:809::200e, is used by devices to communicate over the internet (IPv6).

(These are Google’s specific addresses.)

To browse the internet, you don’t need to memorize any IP addresses. Instead, you type easy-to-remember domains into your browser’s address bar, such as google.com.

This is where DNS comes into play. The Domain Name System (DNS) is essentially a global database of domain names and IP addresses. Your browser communicates with a DNS server, which converts domain names into IP addresses that your computer can comprehend.

What’s Wrong With Regular DNS?

The biggest issue with traditional DNS is that queries are broadcast over the network entirely unencrypted, making it easier for snoopers to observe which websites you visit.

How Does DNS Over HTTPS Help?

Your DNS traffic is delivered across an encrypted HTTPS tunnel with DoH, the same technology that encrypts the content of your browsing sessions.

We can observe that the browser is communicating with Cloudflare’s public DNS service at IPv6 address 2606:4700::6810:f8f9. On the other hand, the inquiries are encrypted and appear to anyone intercepting them as random junk data.

Enabling DNS Over HTTPS in Your Browser

Because DoH is a new technology, each browser’s implementation is slightly different.

Google and Mozilla have been steadily spreading it out to users over the last few months, so you may already have it enabled if you follow the steps below.

How to Enable DNS Over HTTPS in Chrome

1. Select Settings from the three vertical dots in the top-right corner.
2. Under the Privacy and Security category, select Security.
3. Under the Advanced header, enable the Use secure DNS option.
4. To utilize your current service provider*, leave the radio button beside With your current service provider selected, or click With and choose from the available options.

*At the present moment, most DNS providers do not offer DoH. Therefore you shouldn’t rely on your default DNS provider until you can check that it does.

How to Enable DNS Over HTTPS in Firefox

1. Select Options from the hamburger menu in the top-right corner.
2. Under the Network Settings header, go to the bottom of the page and choose Settings.
3. Enable DNS over HTTPS by checking the box.
4. Select your preferred DNS provider from the Use Provider drop-down menu or Custom to use a custom server.
5. To save your changes, click OK.

How to Enable DNS Over HTTPS in Microsoft Edge

1. Select Settings from the three horizontal dots in the top-right corner.
2. In the left-hand Menu, select Privacy, Search, and Services.
3. Scroll down to the Security section.
4. To utilize your current service provider, select Use the current service provider or choose a service provider to use a custom server.

How to Enable DNS Over HTTPS in Brave Browser

For the most part, Brave uses the default Chromium implementation of Secure DNS.

1. To get started, type brave:/settings/security into your browser’s address bar, or manually select Menu> Settings > Privacy and Security to access the configuration page.
2. Secure DNS is enabled in the browser if the setting “Use secure DNS” is enabled.
3. The system’s service provider is used by default. You can select one of the preset providers or create a new provider by switching to “With.” Brave, in addition to Chrome’s default selection of providers, supports Quad9.

How to Enable DNS Over HTTPS in Opera

Secure DNS, often known as DNS-over-HTTPS, is supported by Opera Browser.

1. Either go to Opera Menu > Settings > Advanced > Browser and scroll down to the System group of preferences, or go to Opera Menu > Settings > Advanced > Browser and scroll down to the System group of preferences.
2. Secure DNS is enabled if the preference “Use DNS-over-HTTPS instead of the system’s DNS setting” is selected.
3. If it isn’t, toggle the preference to obtain a list of providers to choose from, as well as the opportunity to create a custom provider.

Only Google Public DNS and several Cloudflare options are listed in Opera.

How to Enable DNS Over HTTPS in Vivaldi

Vivaldi uses the same implementation as Chromium.

1. It’s odd that you can’t locate the option in the standard options or when you search for it in Settings.
2. To see the option, navigate to chrome:/settings/security in your browser.
3. Toggle “Use secure DNS” to enable or disable the capability, as well as choose between utilizing the system provider, a preset provider, or a custom provider.

Vivaldi, like Brave, supports Quad9 in addition to all other providers.

Shortcomings of DNS Over HTTPS

There are a few extra issues to be aware of while using DNS over HTTPS.

It does not protect you from all types of snooping.

Only DNS requests are encrypted by DoH, leaving other aspects of your online traffic exposed to eavesdropping:

• Unencrypted IP addresses still exist.
• The hostnames of websites are transmitted unencrypted due to a feature of HTTPS called Server Name Indication (SNI).

The fact that numerous sites can share the same IP address helps mitigate IP leakage by making it more difficult to determine which site you visited. Another reason to be enthusiastic about SNI is that it will be encrypted thanks to a new technology called Encrypted Client Hello (ECH).

If you need a more strong privacy solution, for the time being, consider using a VPN or the Tor network.

Unencrypted DNS as a fallback

Another potential issue is when the DNS provider cannot resolve a query, such as when a domain is misspelled.

What occurs in this instance is determined by the DoH implementation. Chrome now uses your system’s default DNS server, which is unencrypted for the majority of users. This could lead to a data breach.

An Evolving Technology

DNS over HTTPS is a potential solution for enhancing your web browsing security.

While there are still some bugs to iron out, enabling DoH in your browser can help defend you from man-in-the-middle attacks and other privacy invasions.

Conclusion

I hope you found this information helpful. Please fill out the form below if you have any queries or comments.

User Questions:

1. Should I use DNS over https?

Because the DNS over HTTPS protocol encrypts DNS traffic connections for the first time, consumers and businesses can benefit from increased privacy and security.

2. What does it imply to enable DNS over https?

DNS over HTTPS (DoH) is a novel technology that encrypts domain name system communication by routing DNS queries through an encrypted Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure session. By shielding DNS queries from view, DoH hopes to increase internet privacy.

3. Does Chrome support DNS via SSL?

Google has included a new Secure DNS feature to Chrome 83, which implements DNS over HTTPS and ensures that users’ DNS queries are encrypted from the browser to the DNS provider.

4. Enable DNS via HTTPS for extra privacy – Firefox

For Extra Privacy – Enable DNS over HTTPS – Firefox from privacy

5. Configure DNS Over HTTPS in Firefox

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