7 Best DNS Filtering Solutions for Your Business

Looking for the best DNS Filtering solutions for your business? We have got you covered.

A Domain name system (DNS) main function is to translate domain names into IP Addresses, which a computer can understand.  

In simpler terms, DNS, Domain name system connects WWW’s URLs with their IP addresses. It is one of the reasons why we search through typing words instead of having to type string numbers into a browser to search for websites.

DNS is used for resolving names of WWW sites. Similar to a phonebook, DNS records are updated, i.e server’s IP addresses can be changed without affecting end users.

Understanding DNS Filtering

DNS Filtering refers to the process of using the DNS for blocking a user from accessing certain websites that could be harmful to visit or have inappropriate content.

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It is extremely important to everything we do on the internet in our daily lives and DNS filtering is essential as it removes the chances of online attacks.

In the process of implementing the order, DNS filtering solutions filter sites that are threats from sites that are not threats and allows access to only the sites that are safe for a user to visit. 

DNS Filtering is important for all organizations as it ensures that company data remains secure.

It allows its companies to have control over (certain websites, webpages and IP addresses) what their employees can access and cannot access on the company- manages networks for online security.

DNS blocking only occurs when a page/ URL is known to be malicious.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

1. A DNS Filtering Solutions check in the IP against a blacklist is maintained by a service provider or a third party.
2. If the IP address matches with the blacklist, the DNS filtering solution blocks the request.
3. The user is then directed to a page with an error message. The error message displays the reason the site is blocked.

What does a DNS filtering solution do for a business? And why you must get it. 

1. Prevents access to sites that are malicious by blocking websites before malware infiltrates the business’s networks, endpoints and users. A DNS filtering system will reduce the risk for your business, by effectively preventing malware, phishing and other types of computer viruses and cyberattacks. 

2. Protects your business by blocking access to phishing sites, C2 callbacks and command and control attacks. 

 3. Blocks Advertisements that may attempt at collecting information from employees or have malicious content hidden embedded within them.

 4. While there are plenty of DNS filtering solutions available for a business to use, you can never tell which one would be the best for you to use. 

In this article, we have attempted summing up the best of these best DNS filtering solutions that are bound to give you an ideal DNS filtering with required features to help figure out the one that has the most features and benefits you’re looking for.   

Best DNS Filtering Solutions For Your Business

Below, we have advanced a list of seven best DNS filtering Solutions that you can implement within your business or can use as an individual on a personal level for utmost cybersecurity.

1. WebTitan Cloud

WebTitan Cloud is rich in functionality. It protects users from malware, phishing and viruses. For a business, the WebTitan DNS filtering solution offers cloud-based Web enterprise-level Filtering for all your employees regardless of their location.

Hence, can be accessed securely from anywhere anytime. 

It has various categories of malware protection, blocking access to harmful websites, span based web pages and sites, Spywares that will protect your business in-depth.

WebTitan is anti-phishing. It blocks phishing attempts and protects users from theft. Its full reporting suite allows businesses and organisations to block access to unwanted applications. These include IM and peer to peer. 

Its ability to report in real-time gets instant access to an entire cloud system. It is beneficial for keeping businesses WIFI and email scanner safe and protecting resources connected to the network. 

Features 

• Has user access control and permissions 
• Has Antivirus
• Gives financial data protection
• Performs network security
• Performs data security
• Has vulnerability protection and scanning
• Good threat response
• Included VPN 

Pricing- Starts at 0.90 per feature, per month. Offers a free trial. No free versions were available.  

2. Cisco Umbrella

Cisco umbrella has multiple security features that help a business protect its network, data and employees from internet threat such as malware, ransomware, phishing and cyberattacks via the DNS layer.  

It is the second leading DNS filer after WebTitan. It acts up even before a user may access a malicious site or if these malicious sites hit your business network, the Cisco umbrella blocks them. 

The Cisco umbrella also blocks downloading of certain file types, the types that could be hiding malware and ransomware within them.  

Its DNS filtering system has anti-phishing control that works towards preventing an employee or a user from visiting known phishing websites, for instance, via hyperlinks set in phishing emails. 

Cisco umbrella is one of the most expensive DNS filtering solutions. Its amazing level of features does come with a hefty price. Its availability of rich features is the cause of why it is idealised and often preferred to be used by large enterprises. Its cost does justify the level of protection and features it provides.

Cisco umbrella can be used by individual users, guests, departments, businesses etc.

Features

• Has DNS- layer security
• Secure web gateway
• Cloud access security broker functionality
• Cloud- delivered firewall
• Interactive threat intelligence 

Pricing- $2.70 per month per user, $270 per month with access to 100 users monthly, $3,420 per year with 100 user access and $8,000 per month with 3000 user access. Doesn’t have a free trial or free version available. 

3. WebRoot

WebRoot DNS is the first DNS protection service that has combined privacy and security. DoH is an evolution of DNS which gives privacy, security and embraces resilience against cyber threats. 

WebRoot fully supports DoH and uses DoH over traditional DNS layers. DoH makes sure that all web requests remain secure and private and remain totally invisible to prying eyes.

This means, DNS requests via DoH are secured and are easily accessed by users while remaining totally safe from any foreign/ roaming harmful/ malware agent.

WebRoot easily and securely filters all DNS requests for High-risk domains, enterprises and drastically reduces their exposure to threats. 

WebRoot has over 80 URL categories that give you granular, policy-based control to automatically block harmful and questionable sites. It is known to be built for DoH and the internet of tomorrow. 

Features- 

• Gives Maximum privacy
• Quarantines harmful files
• Guest network protection
• Continuous monitoring
• Off-network protection
• Native DND over HTTPS(DoH)
• Advanced Traffic Filtering
• DNS Lookups
• Policy enforcement
• Multi-network management

Pricing- Webroot has not made price plans public. But it has a per-user price model. It also has a free trial available. 

4. DNSFilter

DNSFilter enables enterprises, schools and universities to detect online security threats and malware through its highly efficient artificial intelligence (AI) technology and content filtering proficiency.

DNSfilter threat analysis functions to protect networks gates against malware, botnets, viruses, phishing attacks and other vulnerable forms of attacks through AL and machine learning-enabled threat analysis.

Another object of DNSfiltering is to perform web content filtering via a customized filtering list set according to a business’s filtering policies (powered by machine learning algorithms and detailed accessible reporting( called Allow- List policy!

DND filtering also generates detailed reports with user requests, security reports, billing and real-time streaming. It provides flexible services driven by API.

Features- 

• Quarantines harmful files
• Guest network protection
• DNS lookups
• Whitelisting
• Network-level filtering/ reporting
• Off- network protection

Pricing-  Free trial available

• Basic plan- $1 / month/ user.
• Professional plan- $2 / month/ user.
• Enterprise plan- $3 / month /user.

5. Mimecast Web Security

Mimecast Web Security saves your business against malicious web activities, regardless of the kind of threat it is facing.  Minecraft visibly adds a strong security suite at the DNS layer of the web. Mimecast is extremely easy to implement and manage. 

Mimecast can be combined with Mimecast Secure Email Gateway with target threat protection which an organization such as universities and organizations can use a single, cloud-based service that will then protect against the two main cyberattack vectors i.e. Email and the web. 

You can get a Mimecast Security agent on Windows and Mac computers to provide you all time off-network protection. 

Mimecast has the strongest defence against social engineering attacks, ransomware and email-borne threats which makes it a viable option for any type and size of an organization.

Features-

• Easy deployment 
• Quality of end-user testing
• Pricing flexibility
• Third-party resources 
• Technical support 
• Network-level filtering/ reporting
• Off- network protection

Pricing- Mimecast has not disclosed its pricing.

6. Cloudflare Gateway 

Cloudflare Gateway keeps malicious content off your business network by using DNS filtering. It gives you complete visibility into traffic on and off your network. It indisputably helps a user with increasing a site speed just with the free plan. 

Cloudflare is widely used by companies for various business objectives. It has an easy setup that is easy to understand and anyone can easily deploy it. 

With a pro version, it gives you advanced performance and security tools such as image optimization and a web application firewall that further protects you from attracts and threats. 

With the professional version of Cloudflare, you’d get advanced DDOS Attack protection, custom SSL certification, prioritized technical and customer support etc. 

Its free plan offers basic performance and security

Features- 

• Access controls/ permissions
• Has VPN
• Detailed reporting/ analytics
• Easily deployable

Pricing- Cloudflare has a free plan and a free version. Come with $20 per month. Charges are based on features than a user. 

7. Avast Secure Web Gateway

Avast secure web gateway is a fully scalable cloud-based DNS filtering and cybersecurity solution. It promises to deliver advanced protection against web threats in a simple set-up solution. 

Avast Secure Web gateway is ideal for you if you own a small or medium-sized business and are looking for a fully scalable, cloud-based solution that doesn’t fail to deliver advanced protection from web threats. 

Its enterprise-level DNS security blocks access to any known threats and prevent infiltrations. 

Cloudflare uses intelligent sandboxing technology, which tightly controls the set of resources and gives limited access to memory, system files and settings. This allows the intentions of any malicious codes to execute without damaging the host device. 

It comes with three easy steps to set up implementation in a matter of minutes.

Features-  

• Simple and easy setup
• Enterprise-class DNS security
• Inspects web traffic
• Intelligent sandboxing technology
• Cloud-based security 

 Pricing- Avast has not disclosed its pricing. 

Also Read: 7 of the Best Dynamic DNS Providers You Can LookUp For FREE

 Conclusion 

Above we have given you a list of the best DNS filtering solutions, these solutions will protect your business from cyber-attacks and online malware online and off-networks.

It is highly important to stay protected from online threats. Above mentioned DNS filtering solutions make sure that you stay protected from any form of vulnerabilities!

 We hope the article was helpful to you and have helped you to decide on choosing the best DNS filtering solution which is best for your business or personal use.