In December we delivered a preview of one of the most critical and innovative technologies DNS security has seen. DNSCrypt, available initially only for Mac, works by encrypting all DNS traffic between you and your DNS provider, OpenDNS. That critical path between you and your DNS servers is often referred to as the “last mile.” It’s in this “last mile” that bad things are most likely to happen — snooping, tampering, or even hijacking traffic. Anyone who knows what they’re doing can eavesdrop on your Internet activity and see exactly which domains you are resolving, and in many cases, what websites you’re visiting. Worse, sophisticated attackers can modify responses and redirect you to malicious sites. We have always used various techniques to thwart this, but none as iron-clad as simply encrypting all the communication between you and OpenDNS.

The effect of DNSCrypt is immediate and adds significant privacy and security to your Internet connection, particularly when you’re accessing the Internet on a public WiFi network at a place like a coffee shop or airport. Today DNSCrypt is used by more than 10,000 people

Today we proudly reveal DNSCrypt for Windows. While we’re mostly a Mac and unix shop here at OpenDNS, we care about protecting all users. Since Windows has more than 80% market share around the world we knew we could not ignore the need for DNSCrypt on Windows.

There are a number of reasons why the World needs DNSCrypt, but here are just a few:

Today’s Internet users no longer access the Internet only at home or at work.

Users connect to several different networks throughout the day.

As the DNS and security service powering the most Internet users around the world, we’re focused on inventing solutions that enable security for all the ways that people connect.

DNSCrypt is a foundation for something much, much greater. We have disrupted the world with our technology and ideas, and we believe You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet.

Please note that what we’re sharing today is a technology preview. While it’s been tested by OpenDNS engineers and OpenDNS users around the world and the Mac version is today being used by an impressive 10,000+ people, there may still be some bugs. We ask that you give us feedback if you see issues so we can iterate and improve quickly. Those of you who frequent the largest coffee chain in the world will be happy to know we fixed an issue some of you had using DNSCrypt on their Wi-Fi.

Without any further delay, download DNSCrypt today and help improve the state of Internet security, one user at a time.