The DNS protocol is analogous to the protocols like 'HTTP' for Web pages or 'FTP' for file transfer between servers, and is a structure of instructions for how DNS servers pass information between themselves and to your computer. However, these options only help secure either end of the 'last mile,' and do not address another security problem in the DNS system, the DNS protocol itself. Additionally, efforts by government officials and anti-malware companies have been putting pressure on malware developers that try to compromise the DNS configuration on your home computer.

Some DNS service providers like Google and OpenDNS have provided relatively secure public DNS offerings that claim to increase both the performance of name resolution and offer better security over DNS servers from Internet providers that are not as well-maintained. The OpenDNS tool 'DNSCrypt' will encrypt the connection to your DNS servers however, it will only do so if you use DNS servers from OpenDNS.

Attackers can compromise this connection either by hacking the DNS server itself, or by using malware to change the DNS server on your system to a rogue one, as was seen with the DNSChanger malware efforts. While an attacker can try hacking the DNS system from any point, the area of most interest is the business-end of the DNS connection called the 'last mile,' which is the connection between it and your home computer, since it is this point where your computer receives instructions on which IP address to use for a connection to a specific URL. This system is a hierarchical network of computers throughout the world that distributes a database of domains and subdomains, allowing the system to resolve the components of the URL ('com,' 'macfixit,' and 'The DNS system is a major area of security for Web traffic, since compromised data from a DNS server can result in your system either not being able to find the servers it needs, or even worse, being redirected to a rogue server that will try to install malware, or coerce you into giving up personal information among other illegal activities. When you connect to a Web site on the Internet, your computer uses the Domain Name System (DNS) to convert URLs like 'to the IP address for the server where that Web site resides.

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