The internet is full of risks from irresponsible people who want to get your data. Although there are many ways to protect your data, such as by using an updated firewall or antivirus for internet browsing, there are two names that people will think of instantly: VPN and DNS. But what are their differences, and which one that you need?
Why browsing the internet is just not about a click?
The internet helps people in numerous ways, like searching for information about the nearest restaurant in your city, watching your beloved TV show, or playing games to relieve your stress. As simple as it might sound, people seldom see the internet as intricate. The internet with all its information can be accessed with just one click, and that’s always the selling point of the internet, but if you dig deeper, that is far from the truth.
With many people accessing the internet, of course, there will be lots of data flowing in there. Irresponsible people or hackers might try to get your data, or even track your IP address, which could lead to your privacy. Data and privacy issues on the internet are not only all about
Furthermore, not all part of the internet is ’free’. Some contents are being locked in other countries, this thing is known as a regional lockout. Some people might be more familiar with the name ‘region lock’. The regional lockout can include games (big platforms like Steam often have games that cannot be accessed in a certain region, due to religious views, culture, etc.), websites (like Reddit which is blocked in Indonesia, or other websites that a government might deem as bad influences), TV shows in streaming services, and more.
What is VPN?
First, we need to understand what are VPN and DNS. Let us start with VPN. A virtual private network or VPN is a service that encrypted or hides your IP address when you access the internet. VPN will create a safe tunnel between your device and the internet. People often use VPNs when they are connected to public Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi in train stations, bus terminal, school, and more), so they are safe and hidden.
The website’s owner would not be able to know your identity and location based on your IP address while you are using VPN. this is because VPN will put your location in motion, so you cannot be seen in your real location. Normally when you are using the internet, your information will be sent to your internet service provider (ISP), but while using VPN, the information will need to go through the VPN server first, so it will appear coming from the VPN server. This will allow you to access contents that are getting regional locked in your region, but some VPN services might slow down your internet connection.
What is DNS?
DNS or domain name system is like a phonebook for the internet and acts as a bridge between a human and a computer, by connecting the domain name (domain name is the name after www., for example, www.cyberacsi.com, the domain name of that website is cyberacsi.com) to the website server. This is because every web applications have its own IP address, and it will be hard for us to remember every one of them, thus writing the name of the website on the URL box in the browser, can directly open the website for us.
Your device is set to have its own DNS resolver (a DNS resolver is a server that does the domain name to website server translation) and it is being set by your ISP. By understanding this, you will understand how changing the DNS resolver will let you access regionally locked content in your country. By changing the DNS resolver to something foreign (by using third-party services perhaps), you will have access to contents that are locked by your ISP. This works similarly to VPN but does not give you the security and protection that VPN offers.
The famous case of DNS usage to bypass locked content is the Steam blockage by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (Kominfo) in 2022. The game portal was blocked by many ISP in Indonesia due to the Kominfo regulation, which led to many people changing their DNS resolver.
Which one is better?
It is obvious that when it comes to security, the winner is VPN. VPN hides your data and gives you privacy while surfing the internet. It gives you pure anonymity that DNS could not offer. On the other hand, VPN is often slower than DNS, but setting up a different DNS resolver from your default DNS resolver will look more complex than turning on a VPN with just one click of a button.
In conclusion, your choice depends on what you need. If you favor security on the internet, then VPN is the solution. But if you do not really mind the possibility of people spying on you while you are browsing the internet, DNS is fine, but you also need to find out how to set DNS resolver to bypass many regional locked contents.
Read our other works:
• All the New Things in the OWASP Top 10 2021
• Domain-domain Baru ZIP Memunculkan Debat di Antara Para Ahli Cybersecurity
• Bank Syariah Indonesia 2023 Cyber Attack
References:
• https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/dns/what-is-dns/
