IBM Security, Packet Clearing House and The Global Cyber Alliance have collaborated to launch a free global service they say is designed to give consumers and businesses added privacy and security protection when they access the Internet.
In a joint announcement on Friday, IBM, PCH and the GCA said the new Quad9 Domain Name System service helps protect users from accessing millions of malicious Internet sites known to steal personal information, infect users with ransomware and malware, or conduct fraudulent activity.
“Protecting against attacks by blocking them through DNS has been available for a long time, but has not been used widely. Sophisticated corporations can subscribe to dozens of threat feeds and block them through DNS, or pay a commercial provider for the service,” said Philip Reitinger, President and CEO of the Global Cyber Alliance.
“However, small to medium-sized businesses and consumers have been left behind – they lack the resources, are not aware of what can be done with DNS, or are concerned about exposing their privacy and confidential information.
{loadposition peter}“Quad9 solves these problems. It is memorable, easy to use, relies on excellent and broad threat information, protects privacy, and security and is free.”
The three organisations say businesses and consumers can safeguard their online privacy as the Quad9 (9.9.9.9) DNS service is engineered to “not store, correlate or otherwise leverage any personally identifiable information (PII) from its users”. “In contrast, other DNS services often capture Information about the websites consumers visit, devices they use and where they live for marketing or other purposes,” they claim.
“The stakes are high – cybercrime is estimated to cost the global economy more than US$2 trillion by 2019. Cybercriminals use tools and techniques to build realistic-looking websites that mimic legitimate companies,” the organisations say.
“These websites might even have names that look similar to a household national chain or a local store – but in reality, are not because they have a different IP address – something that most users would find hard to detect.”
“Leveraging threat intelligence is a critical way to stay ahead of cybercriminals,” said Jim Brennan, Vice President, Strategy and Offering Management, IBM Security.
“Consumers and small businesses traditionally didn’t have free, direct access to the intelligence used by security firms to protect big businesses. With Quad9, we’re putting that data to work for the industry in an open way and further enriching those insights via the community of users. Through IBM’s involvement in Quad9, we’re applying these collaborative defence techniques while giving users greater privacy controls.”
"PCH is pleased to participate in Quad9 by allowing the system to leverage our global network and infrastructure. Through local deployment of technology versus some distant datacentre, Quad9 works to significantly improve performance for the entire end-user experience and Internet transactions,” said Bill Woodcock, Executive Director, Packet Clearing House.
“We strongly support the values Quad9 places on end-user privacy. The personal information protections and selectable DNS encryption, DNSSEC, and blocklist that are in place show that this project is in line with PCH's values. Quad9 will inspire trust in both individuals and businesses who understand the importance of securing their private browsing data.”
Quad9 is being promoted as covering not only traditional PCs and laptops but allowing extension to Internet connected devices (TVs, DVRs) or Internet of Things (IoT) technologies such as smart thermostats and connected home appliances.