Thanks to a push over the last few years, led by Google[1] and others, encrypted HTTPS connections[2] protect more data than ever[3] as it passes between web servers and browsers. But another fundamental component of web browsing too often remains unencrypted: the Domain Name System connections that act as the address lookups of the internet.
In Android 9, also known as Android Pie, Google has added a feature called Private DNS to start encrypting DNS on mobile. But for all the Android devices that won’t get an OS upgrade for awhile—or ever[4]—the Alphabet subsidiary Jigsaw is releasing a free mobile app called Intra that can offer that additional layer of web protection to billions of mobile browsers around the world.
To find the site you’re looking for, web browsers first connect to a DNS server, essentially an address book that looks up the site you want and shows your browser the path to get there. But since this DNS connection is often unencrypted, attackers can find ways[5] to steal your browsing data, or trick your computer into connecting to tainted DNS servers that take you to fake, malicious sites. DNS manipulation can even be used as a form of censorship, redirecting traffic away from certain sources of information or effectively blocking sites altogether.
“DNS protection is important all over the world, but it’s especially important in places that don’t have strong protection for freedom of expression," says Ben Schwartz, a software engineer at Jigsaw. "And those are also places often where users can’t afford the latest and greatest devices, but we want to make sure we protect them to the greatest extent possible. So Intra takes this private DNS feature that we introduced in