Vertical Markets

Cyber service

by Mark Rowe

The Global Cyber Alliance (GCA) has launched a free service designed to give consumers and businesses added privacy and security protection as they access the internet. The new Quad9 Domain Name System (DNS) service, created in partnership with IBM Security and Packet Clearing House (PCH), 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.

Quad9 is engineered to not store, correlate or otherwise leverage any personally identifiable information (PII) from its users. This is in contrast to other DNS services which often capture information about the websites consumer’s visit, devices they use, and where they live, for marketing or other purposes.

The protections delivered via Quad9 cover not only traditional PCs and laptops but can also be extended to internet connected devices (TVs, DVRs) or Internet of Things (IoT) technologies such as smart thermostats and connected home appliances. These devices often do not receive important security updates and are also difficult to secure with traditional anti-virus tools, yet remain connected to the internet leaving them vulnerable to hackers.

Philip Reitinger, President and CEO of the Global Cyber Alliance, said: “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. 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. Quad9 solves these problems. It is memorable, easy to use, relies on excellent and broad threat information, protects privacy, and security and is free.”

Background

The GCA was set up in 2015 by the then City of London Police Commissioner, Adrian Leppard, and John Gilligan, Chairman of the Board for the Center for Internet Security (CIS) in the States.

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