Hi, I was wondering whether the new European DNS4EU public service would improve the safety of my Discourse self hosted site? I am not too technical and not very knowledgeable regarding DNS, so I asked an AI to sum up the services offered below so that you can have an idea.
For a webmaster with a self-hosted Discourse site, DNS4EU, an EU-funded public DNS resolver, offers several advantages primarily related to digital sovereignty, data protection, and cybersecurity for the overall internet ecosystem, which can indirectly or directly benefit your platform and its users.
Hereās a summary of the interest, protection level, and benefits:
Interest for a Discourse Webmaster
DNS4EU aims to provide a secure and GDPR-compliant alternative to dominant non-European DNS services like Google and Cloudflare. Its core value proposition for you lies in enhancing the trust and security environment for your Discourse users by being part of a more robust and privacy-focused internet.
Advantages in terms of Filtering, Protection, and Security
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Enhanced Digital Sovereignty and Data Protection:
- Data Processed in Europe: DNS4EU guarantees that DNS resolution data, for users who opt to use it, is processed entirely within the EU. This is crucial for GDPR compliance, ensuring user data and privacy are handled according to EU rules without being monetized.
- Privacy-Focused: The service commits to minimal data collection, no commercial exploitation, and no unnecessary storage. IP addresses are anonymized. For your Discourse site, this means users engaging with your platform through DNS4EU benefit from a more private and EU-compliant browsing experience, fostering user trust.
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Improved Cybersecurity:
- Integrated Threat Protection: DNS4EU incorporates protection against cyber threats such as malware, phishing, and DDoS attacks. While these protections primarily apply on the userās side, they contribute to a safer online environment, potentially reducing malicious traffic or compromised users interacting with your Discourse site.
- Threat Intelligence Sharing: The infrastructure is interconnected with over 20 European CERTs for near-instant blocking of malicious sites. It acts as a āthreat intelligenceā vector, promoting information sharing about threats. This collective effort means known threats are quickly identified and blocked at the DNS level, better protecting your users.
- Encrypted Protocols Support: DNS4EU supports DoH (DNS over HTTPS) and DoT (DNS over TLS), which encrypt DNS queries, preventing eavesdropping or manipulation by malicious third parties. If your users utilize these protocols with DNS4EU, their requests to your Discourse site are more secure.
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Filtering Options (for users of your site):
- DNS4EU offers various filtering profiles users can choose from: āProtectiveā (anti-malware), āChildā (content filtering), āAdblockā (ads and security), āFullā (combining child, adblock, and security), or āUnfilteredā. These options provide an extra layer of protection for your Discourse users against external content or threats, enhancing their overall experience and safety.
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Performance and Resilience:
- With a fast, distributed infrastructure across 14 European countries and anycast network, it offers low latency (under 20 ms in most capitals). While not directly impacting your Discourse serverās performance, it ensures fast and reliable DNS resolution for users of DNS4EU.
- It provides a European āmade in Europeā alternative to dominant non-EU services, reducing dependency on a few major players and enhancing the overall resilience of the internet in Europe.
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Future Professional Services:
- From 2026, DNS4EU plans to offer paid services for businesses, administrations, and operators, which could become relevant for your Discourse platform if it grows or if you require specific enterprise-level features.
Level of Protection Possible
The level of protection offered by DNS4EU is high for end-users concerning DNS query security, common threat detection (malware, phishing), and privacy. For a self-hosted Discourse webmaster, this translates to a safer user environment, as visitors using DNS4EU are better protected against external threats before they even reach your site. It also provides a better perceived GDPR compliance due to EU-based data processing and non-monetization of DNS data, which can build trust in your service.
However, itās important to note that DNS blockages are easily circumventable by tech-savvy users. The current public service has a rate limit of 1000 queries/second per IP, which means itās not designed for very large-scale traffic management by organizations, but rather for individual users. Its ultimate success will also depend on its widespread adoption.