Google Chrome is adding another layer of security via DNS over HTTPS aka Secure DNS. This feature sends DNS lookup requests via HTTPs to increase security.

What is DNS over HTTPS?

Here is the official definition of DNS over HTTPS from Google:

Traditional DNS queries and responses are sent over UDP or TCP without encryption. This is vulnerable to eavesdropping and spoofing (including DNS-based Internet filtering). Responses from recursive resolvers to clients are the most vulnerable to undesired or malicious changes, while communications between recursive resolvers and authoritative name servers often incorporate additional protection.

Chrome Secure DNS

Most of the internet now communicate over encrypted HTTPS connections. Google and Chrome were at the forefront of this drive. Now, Chrome will start HTTPS for DNS lookups as well.

Enable Secure DNS Lookup in Chrome

The Secure DNS option is currently available in the Canary version of Chrome. You will soon see this in Canary version of Chrome for Android as well.

To get started, let’s first enable the experimental flag for this feature.

1. Open chrome://flags
2. Find Secure DNS lookups.
3. From the dropdown, select Enabled.
4. Restart Chrome

You should now have DNS over HTTPS enabled in Google Chrome. Here is the description of the feature from the Experiments page:

“Enables DNS over HTTPS. When this feature is enabled, your browser may try to use a secure HTTPS connection to look up the addresses of websites and other web resources”

After the flag is enabled, complete the following steps to enable Secure DNS on Chrome:

1. Click the three-dots settings icon.
   
2. Choose Settings.
3. Click Privacy and Security.
4. Click and expand More.
5. Click the toggle to enable Use Secure DNS.
6. You can use secure DNS with your own internet service provider (ISP) or use custom or third-party services like Google. Choose one.
7. To choose Google or Cloudflare, select “With” and choose your option from the dropdown. You can choose from the following:
   1. CleanBrowsing (Family Filter)
   2. Google (Public DNS)
   3. Quad9 (9.9.9.9)
   4. Cloudflare (1.1.1.1)
8. If you have a custom provider, enter the details in the Enter custom provider field.

You have successfully enabled Secure DNS for Chrome. Which service provider did you pick? Let us know in the comments section.