When using anonymous VPN service, it is important to be 100% sure that all of one’s internet traffic and DNS requests pass through the secure VPN tunnel. If any DNS requests were to leak outside of the VPN and use one of your local ISP’s DNS servers, this would in turn expose someone’s internet traffic and activity.

DNS stands for the Domain Name System, and it is often referred to as the Internet’s “Phone Book”. This is because DNS is used to translate domain names like www.torguard.net into a numerical IP address before routing traffic across the internet. Whenever you access a website or type a URL into a browser window, the computer first looks up a DNS server to find that website’s IP address. Almost all Internet service providers give customer’s access to company owned DNS servers which can make it easy to log or record a user’s web browsing history.

If a VPN tunnel is setup incorrectly, it is possible for the operating system to use the ISP’s default DNS servers instead of using the DNS provided by the anonymous VPN service. As you can see, DNS leaks are a major privacy concern as it can give the end user a false sense of privacy when in fact DNS requests are leaking in plain sight.

In addition to the privacy implications of a DNS leak, it can also make the user vulnerable to DNS Hijacking through a route injection attack. This is another why reason it is vital to ensure one’s VPN provider takes added precautions against these DNS leak vulnerabilities by taking complete control of all DNS queries and forcing all requests through the secure VPN server.

How to Check for a DNS Leak

To check if your VPN provider is leaking DNS requests, visit this TorGuard DNS Leak test page. Within a few seconds you should see any available DNS servers populated in a list as seen below. If any of these servers are related to your personal Internet Service Provider, then you have a DNS leak. If the servers listed are TorGuard DNS, Google DNS, or OpenDNS, then this is NOT considered a leak.

TorGuard ‘s Built In DNS Leak Protection

TorGuard’s popular OpenVPN software comes with advanced DNS leak protection built in for all platforms – Windows, Mac and Linux. By default, DNS leak protection is turned “on” the minute you install TorGuard VPN to ensure the highest level of privacy possible. To verify the setting is active, click the settings link on the main screen, then click the Network tab and you should see “Prevent DNS Leak” setting active. When checked, this forces all DNS requests through the VPN server and makes sure your ISP’s DNS servers are no longer in use:

It is important to ensure your VPN service provides the necessary tools to keep you safe online. In addition to a DNS Leak Block feature, TorGuard’s secure OpenVPN app protects against WebRTC leaks, IPv6 Leak Block, and offers a secure App killswitch and a full connection killswitch when needed. More TorGuard VPN features include: