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DNS leak protection is pivotal if you want to stay anonymous online. Even if you are using an anonymity or privacy service like a VPN connection, which uses a VPN tunnel to protect your data, you can still be the victim of a DNS leak.

Only the best VPNs have a built-in DNS queries leak protection tool. Is your VPN protecting you?

Our free DNS leak test tool will reveal if you are safe online in a matter of seconds.

How Does The DNS Leak Protection Tool Work

First, check what your real IP address is . To do that, go to our free IP address tool while not connected to your VPN. The IP address tool will show your real IP address and the server where you are currently connected. What you see is the server used by your ISP provider.

. To do that, go to our free IP address tool while not connected to your VPN. The IP address tool will show your real IP address and the server where you are currently connected. What you see is the server used by your ISP provider. Take note of your real IP address.

Activate your VPN service and run the free DNS leak test above. If the IP you see is still the same as before, you are the victim of a DNS leak.If instead your VPN is working correctly, you will see a different IP address and the VPN server you connected too.

Voila! In just a few seconds you now know if you are safe or your sensitive data is exposed to cybercriminals. Then, you can simply adapt your browsing habits.

How DNS Works?

The Domain Name System (DNS) is what allows you to surf the Internet and access the websites you want.

Try to think of a DNS server as a big address-book where you can find all the websites available online. In this address-book, every single website is assigned a specific “phone number” or IP address. So, every time you type the name of a website, your ISP goes inside the “address-book” or DNS server, extracts the IP of the website you are looking for and use it to connect you with it.

As you can see, in all this process your ISP exactly knows who you are and what you are doing on the Internet. Moreover, the ISP can even track your data. In just a few words, you are totally exposed.

To avoid this annoyng and dangerous problem, you must activate the VPN who will protect you from prying eyes.

Once you access the Internet through your VPN, your data is traveling through a VPN tunnel, which is a fully encrypted tunnel, and you will bypass your ISP. The VPN will connect you to the Internet using its servers and DNS. This way, your ISP has no idea which website you are visiting and what information you are looking for, as all of that info is now in the encrypted tunnel. The ISP will have no insight into your online activities.

Moreover, once you activate your VPN, your data is encrypted and therefore nobody can access it and use it with malicious intents.

The VPN works fine unless you are the victim of a DNS leak.

What Is A DNS Leak And Why Should You Care

DNS queries leak poses a severe threat to your safety during your online activities. When using a VPN or another privacy service, you may assume you are safe and protected while it may not be the case.

A DNS leak is not a malfunction of your VPN, but it usually depends on the machine you are using. DNS requests leaks are more frequently an issue for Windows users even though it may happen also if you use Mac or Linux.

The problem you may experience is that your machine uses a DNS default setting that keeps rerouting you to your ISP DNS server instead of the VPN’s. When that happen, your queries are not encrypted and your ISP can keep monitoring your activity.

You are the victim of a DNS requests leakage.

When that happen, your sensitive data and your private activity are exposed even though you are confident of being shielded by your VPN service. For instance, if you are engaging in P2P or BitTorrent file sharing and are downloading copyrighted contents, you may incur some legal actions. They may take you by surprise since that shouldn’t happen when you are using a safe connection through a VPN. Moreover, even your sensitive data can unexpectedly fall into the wrong hands.

For these reasons, it is critical to change your browsing habits and check your DNS from time to time and especially when your connection needs to be 100% protected.

How To Avoid A DNS Leak

One of the basic rules to improve your security on the Internet is to always change your DNS settings to bypass your Internet Service Provider. Here you can find a user-friendly tutorial to change DNS on Windows and Mac.

Besides that, you should choose an excellent VPN service that offers an integrated DNS leak protection.