DNS filtering: the click that leads nowhere.
Someone always clicks. What matters is what happens next.
Short answer
DNS filtering blocks access to harmful websites at the moment a device looks up the address. If a domain is known for phishing, malware or a fake login page, no connection is made and the user sees a notice. It works for every device on the network without installing anything on it. Jevana sets it up and keeps the exceptions.
What happens at a click
- 01
The click
An employee clicks a link in an email that seems to come from the bank.
- 02
The question
The laptop asks a DNS server where that website is. This happens for every address, unnoticed.
- 03
The check
The DNS server compares the domain with lists of known harmful addresses, which are updated continuously.
- 04
The answer
If the domain is on a list, the laptop gets no address back. The page does not load.
What it does and does not stop
| Threat | Stopped | Note |
|---|---|---|
| A known phishing page | Yes | As soon as the domain is on a list |
| Malware that contacts its maker | Often | Even if the laptop is already infected |
| A brand-new domain an hour old | Sometimes | New domains can be refused by default |
| A harmful file on a well-known service | No | The domain itself is trustworthy |
| An attachment in an email | No | That is what email filtering is for |
DNS filtering is one layer. It does not replace two-step verification, updates or backup.
How we set it up
- At the office
- Set up on the firewall. Every device on the network is covered, including a printer or a guest's phone.
- On the road
- On managed laptops the filtering travels along, so it works at home and on the train too.
- Categories
- Harmful sites are always closed. Other categories, such as gambling, you switch on or off yourself.
- Exceptions
- If a site is blocked wrongly, you tell us and we put it on the list.
- Insight
- An overview of what was stopped. Without us keeping track of who visits which site.
Questions
What does DNS filtering stop?
DNS filtering stops connections to domains known to be harmful: phishing pages, sites that spread malware and servers that infected computers contact. It works at the level of the address, before a page is loaded. What it does not see is the content of a page or a file on an otherwise trustworthy website.
Does DNS filtering work at home and on the road?
Yes, provided it is set up on the laptop itself. At the office the filtering runs through the firewall. Outside the office a laptop uses the network it is on, and that protection lapses. So on managed laptops we set them to always use the filtered DNS, whatever the wifi. The same can be done for phones.
Can you see which websites our employees visit?
Technically a DNS filter records which domains are requested. We set it up so that we only see what was blocked and how often, not who visits which site. If you as an employer want to keep more, you need a clear reason and an agreement with your staff. That is a choice for the organisation, not for us.
Do employees notice DNS filtering?
Not in daily work. Websites load as fast as before. Only with a blocked address does a page appear explaining that the site was stopped and how to ask for an exception. For most people that rarely happens, and almost always after a click on a link in a suspicious email.
Goes well with
-
Cybersecurity for SMEs
The measures that stop most attacks, in an order a small business can follow.
-
Firewall
A firewall installed, configured and kept up, with rules that someone knows the reason for.
-
DNS management
The settings of your domain name in order: where your site is, where your email goes and who may send mail for you.
-
Microsoft 365 security
Two-step verification, conditional access and Defender: what is in your licence, switched on and checked.
Tell us what you run.
An introduction costs nothing. You talk straight away to one of the two people who will actually do the work.
or email info@jevana.systems