January 19, 2011

Wednesday: This will probably be our last day for a couple if we get all the snow that is predicted. As you all know by now, we have to change our DNS numbers. Here are the two numbers you must use now: 150.199.1.29 and 150.199.187.8. Below is the explanation of what the Blackhole DNS numbers do for us. Please read and understand this. Ask questions if necessary.

MOREnet members may choose to use the free Blackhole DNS service to add a layer of protection against spyware for their workstations and servers. The service is very easy to use; system administrators just need to replace the DNS addresses of MOREnet's traditional DNS servers with these BHDNS servers, and organization workstations will be unable to browse to many spyware infected sites. If IP addresses are assigned by DHCP, this transition is very quick and easy to do in the DHCP configuration. If an organization has local DNS servers, just point those local servers to the BHDNS servers. Sites that manually assign DNS entries will need to visit each computer to make the changes.
The service works by returning invalid IP addresses for sites that are known to serve up spyware. Many times these sites are hidden in ads and scripts, and users don't even know they are at risk of accessing spyware-infected sites. When users attempt to browse to a site that is serving spyware, the BHDNS servers return an invalid address to the DNS query and the system is not able to complete the request.