Ok… thanks for the info
Well it’s a nice one from you @Favvz and I also gained some important informations from @Freakytainment write up. Thank you guys.
Well I’d like to make my own little contribution here, I prefer the DNS system and this is my reason.
DNS makes sure that the internet is not only user-friendly but also operates efficiently, loading whatever content we request in a timely manner. It serves as one of the pillars on which the internet is built. Without it, in order to access the content we want, we would be forced to memorize extensive lists of numbers (IP addresses).
The DNS system have the ability to map out a new IP address if the host’s IP address changes is one of DNS’s two most notable advantages. compared to an IP address, are simpler to memorize. enabling domain name hierarchy usage by companies without regard to IP address allocation
DNS SYSTEM WORKING STEP BY STEPWORKING SYSTEM
Getting website information
Contact the Recursive DNS Servers
Consult the Reliable DNS Servers.
Well these are the books and videos I read, that made me have a rethink.
Reference
Also found out it can be used for PS4 speed stuff, though didn’t go deep on that
ms_dns.pdf (267.3 KB)
I read the following on net also, not a personal write-up
Why Are DNS Servers Beneficial?
A Domain Name System is a centralized mechanism to resolve or give the IP addresses a domain name. But what are the benefits of DNS servers? Are DNS servers crucial for web security?
Here are the advantages of DNS servers:
DNS is the only system allowing online users to use and browse the internet.
DNS servers help you find the website with the use of your web browser (like Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer) by typing the name of the website.
You don’t need to memorize numbers. Instead of IP addresses or a string of numbers, you can enter the domain name or URL, which makes searching a lot easier.
DNS servers make online transactions possible, even with the use of innovative features like AI-based searches and chatbots.
DNS servers enable you to identify the data service’s technical functionality, defining the DNS protocol, detailed data structures specification, and data communication exchanges. DNS adds an extra layer of security.
Fault tolerance and proper load distribution of web hosting services to multiple servers enable multiple hostnames corresponding to a single IP address.
DNS enhances the security of DNS infrastructure, which is essential for dynamic, secure updates.
Your readers or customers experience more reliable, secure, and faster online transactions when visiting your website.
This seems to contradict your own point above. Could you please explain?
Thought I deleted that, I read some documents on ENS and felt it was better… but after making some deep research and also watching some educational tapes on the topic last night, I came up with a different conclusion.
Very interesting read @Favvz. It shines a lot of light into an area I previously didn’t think of often.
My primary concern was whether such Ethereum names could make tracking the transactions of their owners easier.
I found a Decrypt article that seems to answer that question. The research there successfully identified the real identities of several ENS users.
In our investigation we found it possible to work out where people would be in the future, see insights into business deals and know just how much money people really have—all by observing public blockchain data.
Most users try to get around the privacy risk by connecting their domain names with a relatively inactive address but the address used in registering the domain could still be tracked. The article further mentions that
The issue here is that Ethereum names make it trivially easy for criminals to create a list of people that have the most amount of Ethereum and likely have a crypto wallet… It’s possible to see people’s salaries too, when they’re paid in Ethereum, or in token form.
It is an interesting thought weighing the pros and cons of ENS against the user’s responsibility of segregating public/private transactions.
For further readings on privacy, ENS and tips on maintaining anonymity when interacting with the Blockchain. Blockchain is Watching You: Profiling and Deanonymizing Ethereum Users.
Good day everyone, today we’d be talking about Ethereum name service, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
What is Ethereum Name Service (ENS)?
According to ens domain doc , The Ethereum Name Service (ENS) is a distributed, open, and extensible naming system based on the Ethereum blockchain. ENS’s job is to map human-readable names like ‘alice.eth’ to machine-readable identifiers such as Ethereum addresses, other cryptocurrency addresses, content hashes, and metadata. ENS is implemented on numerous test networks in addition to the Ethereum main network. The ENS deployment will be used on the network you are talking with if you use a library like the ensjs Javascript library or an end-user application, which will both automatically detect the network you are interacting with. Use the ENS Manager App or any of the numerous ENS-enabled applications on our homepage to test out ENS right away.
Registrars, smart contracts that control top-level domains like “.eth” and “.test,” are in charge of defining the policies governing the distribution of their subdomains. Anyone can get domain ownership for their own use if they abide by the restrictions imposed by these registrar contracts. Additionally, ENS allows users to import their existing DNS names for use with ENS.
Owners risk permanently losing their cryptocurrency if it is sent to the incorrect address, but Ethereum Name Service intends to let users build their own custom wallet addresses to lessen the likelihood of this happening. Owners risk permanently losing their cryptocurrency if it is sent to the incorrect address, but Ethereum Name Service intends to let users build their own custom wallet addresses to lessen the likelihood of this happening.
After a protracted downward trend, ENS is now beginning to show signs of recovery after surpassing a significant milestone of two million registered domains.
In order to prevent this and give a simple method of distributing wallet addresses, Ethereum Name Service was created. Users can make their own customized wallet address, just as a social media handle or a customized URL link. Ethereum Name Service is now the most widely used blockchain domain standard. At the time of writing, it boasts more than two million addresses and almost 500,000 users. For example, someone could buy the wallet address Trendy.ETH. Once registered with a wallet, investors can send or request funds by using this address. ENS also supports ‘reverse resolution’, making it possible to associate metadata such as canonical names or interface descriptions with Ethereum addresses.
ENS ARCHITECTURE
ENS has two principal components: the registry and the resolvers
Image source: https://docs.ens.domains/
Image source: https://docs.ens.domains/
ENS REGISTRY
The ENS registry is made up of a single smart contract that keeps track of every domain and subdomain and holds three vital bits of data for each of them:
The website’s owner
The domain’s resolver
A smart contract or an external account (a user) can both be the owner of a domain. A registrar is just a smart contract that controls a domain and grants users that adhere to certain contract-defined rules subdomains of that domain.
Resolving a name in ENS is a two-step process:
First, ask the registry what resolver is responsible for the name, and second, ask that resolver for the answer to your query.
This is the price chart of the ENS
Source: Coinmarket cap
DOMAIN NAME SYSTEM
According to Wikipedia
The Domain Name System is the hierarchical and decentralized naming system used to identify computers reachable through the Internet or other Internet Protocol networks. The resource records contained in the DNS associate domain names with other forms of information.
HOW DOES DNS FUNCTION?
DNS servers translate URLs and domain names into computer-friendly IP addresses. They convert data into something a computer can understand in order to locate a webpage. DNS resolution refers to the translation and lookup procedure.
Your computer initially performs a DNS query using a DNS client, which is generally found in a Web browser, to determine the IP address associated with a domain name. A recursive DNS server, also referred to as a recursive resolver, receives the query after that. Recursive resolvers are often run by Internet Service Providers (ISPs), such as AT&T or Verizon (or any other third-party), and they are aware of which further DNS servers to query in order to match a domain name with an IP address. Authoritative name servers are the ones that truly hold the required data.
TYPES OF DNS SERVERS
A DNS resolution involves a number of different server types. The four name servers are listed below along with a description of how a query moves through them. They offer the desired domain name or pointers to alternative name servers.
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Recursive Server
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TLD Server
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Root name Server
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Authoritative name Server
Reference: Ethereum Name Service Price Prediction | Is Ethereum Name Service a Good Investment?
Price prediction for ENS
https://docs.ens.domains/ this explains almost all on ENS Documentation
See more on the working system if DNS
ENS is a significant development in the cryptocurrency space and a step in the right direction to address some of the most pressing problems that plague the sector, namely, user experience. Errors are frequently caused by having to deal with lengthy strings of random numbers and letters, and in the world of cryptography, errors are frequently very costly. The user experience can be enhanced overall by normalizing addresses and presenting them in a human-readable and welcoming fashion, much like DNS does for Internet users. However, DNS records for domains and names are frequently kept on centralized servers, making them vulnerable to hacking. ENS, on the other hand, have multiple layers of security thanks to Ethereum’s blockchain.
ENS VS DNS:
Human interactions with web2 and web3 can be managed through the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) and the Domain Name System (DNS). DNS transforms an IP address into a URL, a human-readable string.
A human-readable string formatted as a URL is created from an Ethereum address by the Ethereum Name Service (ENS). Both activities resemble a phone book. A phone book can be used to seek up a person’s name and reveal their contact information.
As a component of a network of internet protocols, Web2 can operate in perfect harmony with the DNS. The idea behind the new, decentralized internet, known as Web3, is still in its infancy and faces many difficulties.
The main goal of ENS is to simplify web3 and facilitate the exchange of crypto addresses. As time goes on, more blockchain protocols will incorporate ENS into their web3 integration and support it.
Adoption level of ENS:
Trading activity have often mirrored the growth in registrations and renewals on the market for ENS domain. In 2021, the market for ENS domains has skyrocketed and this is believed to be as a result of it’’s adoption within the community, much like other crypto markets. As of September 7th, 2021, rolling 30-day USD sales have grown by slightly over 12,800% year to date, while the sales count statistic has shown a healthy 2,210% growth. While the number of ENS trades experienced a modest adjustment in early July after a sustained month of parabolic growth in the sales count, it has since recovered and maintained this steep trajectory until the end of summer 2021.
Issues with ENS
The immutability of ENS services is one of its main selling points. They cannot be modified, erased, or edited once they have been added to the Ethereum blockchain. Because of their immutability, they are no longer subject to censorship. The material is censorship-resistant when combined with data kept on a decentralized file system, such as IPFS.
This immutability has drawbacks, and rather sinister ones at that.
Some of these downsides includes the following:
Firstly, these services can be used by people traffickers, terrorist organizations, illicit online casinos, and more. They cannot be taken down once their websites are live. Their ENS records cannot be deleted once they are added to the blockchain. This notion of censorship resistance is suddenly not so appealing. You’ve switched from being against censorship to encouraging crime.
Another drawback is that you’re doomed if you misplace the keys to your domain. You are entirely responsible for looking after and safeguarding your private key, just like with your cryptocurrency wallet. You will no longer have power over that area if you lose it. At the moment, one of the largest barriers to crypto adoption is private key management. The typical consumer does not desire the obligation. They want to have the option to call someone and change their password. That’s just not possible for ENS and that’s by design.
Many people only use (or wish to use) crypto because it is anonymous, hence using ENS for addresses makes them “less” anonymous. These ENS addresses are not anonymous either, unlike domain name services, which have a public registry and registrars who save all of your personal or business information. The information exists to connect an address to a person or business. Governments and businesses can run queries on this data.
These ENS registrars are also the middlemen who receive commissions from each deal. They do not need to store any data, in contrast to DNS registrars. To enable us to register and update the entries, they merely need to grant us access to the smart contracts. One-time fees are levied by some registrars. Some businesses require a yearly renewal cost. Nobody knows what will occur if they cease operations.
There wouldn’t be a need for censorship resistance if there were no evil actors (neither terrorists nor dictators). No need for centralized control would exist. Today’s world is not the one described above. Instead, we live in a society where the bad guys are more likely to employ ENS for evil than the good guys are to use it for good.
In conclusion,
The ENS is a component of the native Ethereum ecosystem and was developed for smart contracts. This indicates that its security and transparency are inherited, as contrast to DNS records that are held on centralized servers and are therefore still subject to hacker attacks.
The complexity of cryptography can deter newcomers from becoming involved. By facilitating crypto adoption and increasing its use, ENS removes this roadblock. The machine-readable public addresses are transformed by ENS into brief, memorable connections that enable interactions and transactions with any cryptocurrency or NFT. All wallets, websites, and subdomains will be linked together under a single link, making cryptocurrency more approachable and less complicated.
Over time, we might observe a general increase in acceptance as new bitcoin users have easier access to blockchain addresses. ENS and other comparable incentives are essential for the success of the adoption of cryptocurrencies worldwide.
Etherueum service enables building and deploying smart contracts and decentralized applications without downtime, fraud, control or interference from a third party.
It can be used by anyone to secure a digital technology, as long as the person has access to internet.
It acts as money and can be a store value, it can be used to pay peer- to-peer payment.
Same way the open nature of ENS makes it easy to be abused by attackers.
Domain squatting: an act of registering domains with the same or confusing similar names with famous landmarks, which is usually used for malicious intents.
However various attempts has been made to stop the insecurity of the ethureum service.
It’s encouraging that several actions are being taken to lessen ENS’s security issues. Could you give some instances of these initiatives?
Nice question!, that was thoughful of you.
To minimize insecurity, for instance domain squatting. Since ENS introduced new .eth TDLs, squatters are more likely to register more ENS names beside the top domain names in the alexa list.
Taking advantage of Alexa top- look name list to match each level of ENS names. Here is the procedure that has been adopted to expose domain squatting. If one Ethereum address owns more than one known ENS that belong to different owners in their DNS domain names, then these .eth names of known brands are explicit squatting names. For example, the address
0x782cf6b6e735496f7e608489b0c57ee27f40
7e7d have registered google.eth,
mcdonalds.eth, redbull.eth, etc.,
and these brands are not belonging to the
same owner.Thus, those that have been trying to put an end to ENS insecurity believe this
address is involved in the explicit ENS name squatting.
With these method more ENS squatter has been exposed, and that means more security.
As with any decentralized system, ENS is not immune to potential security risks and vulnerabilities. There is a potential for ENS names to be hijacked or stolen, either through technical means or through social engineering attacks.
One potential risk is the use of phishing attacks, where a malicious actor creates a fake website or DApp that is designed to look like a legitimate ENS name, and lures users into visiting the site and entering their private keys or other sensitive information.
Another risk is the use of malware or other malicious software, which could potentially target users who have ENS names registered and attempt to steal their private keys or access their accounts.
To mitigate these risks, it is important for users to be vigilant and cautious when interacting with ENS names and DApps. This includes verifying the authenticity of websites and DApps before interacting with them, using strong and unique passwords, and enabling two-factor authentication for added security. It is also recommended to use a hardware wallet or other secure storage solution for managing private keys, rather than storing them on a computer or online.
Yes, it is possible for the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) to be hijacked, just like any other decentralized system that relies on network consensus. ENS is a decentralized system that allows users to register and resolve human-readable names to Ethereum addresses and other resources. ENS names are registered and managed on the Ethereum blockchain, and are intended to be a more user-friendly and secure alternative to traditional IP addresses.
One of the main risks associated with ENS is the possibility of domain name hijacking, which occurs when an unauthorized person takes control of a registered domain name. This can happen if an attacker is able to gain access to the private key associated with the domain name, or if they are able to exploit a vulnerability in the ENS system.
To mitigate the risk of hijacking, it is important for users to take steps to secure their private keys and to be aware of potential vulnerabilities in the ENS system. It is also important for users to be cautious when interacting with unfamiliar ENS domains and to verify the authenticity of any transactions before proceeding.
There are also tools and services available that can help users detect and mitigate potential issues with ENS, such as security audits and monitoring services. It is always a good idea for users to take steps to protect their assets and to be vigilant when interacting with any decentralized system.
Overall, it is important for users to be aware of the potential risks associated with ENS and to take steps to protect their assets and secure their accounts. By following best practices for security and staying informed about potential vulnerabilities and threats, users can minimize their risk of falling victim to attacks or other security issues.