If you use the Internet, DNS is a term you need to be familiar with. DNS, which stands for “Domain Name System”, is a tool that translates domain names into IP addresses. This is particularly useful to verify information about a particular website or domain name.

For instance, if you want to visit a particular website, all you usually need to do is type the domain name on your browser and it will redirect you to the requested website. However, your browser does not look for the website through its domain name, but through numerical IP addresses assigned to that particular website.

People use domain names instead of IP addresses simply because they’re easier to remember. IP addresses are not only more difficult to remember, they can also change from time to time. DNS servers constantly gather this information making sure IP addresses (and other info related to a particular domain site) is accurate and up to date.

DNS can be described as being analogous to a phone book, where the domain name tells us about the identity of the site, and the associated IP tells us how to reach the site. Once you visit a particular website, your computer will cache the DNS response so that next time you visit that site it can access it faster.

However, if viruses and other malware gain entry to your Internet service provider’s DNS servers, you may be tricked into thinking you’re visiting a legitimate website while instead you’ve been redirected to a site set up by possible scammers. For example, if you type “Twitter.com” on your browser, your network’s DNS server will look for the IP associated to this site, allowing you to connect to the site. If your Internet service provider’s DNS server has been hacked by a particular virus, it will re-direct you to a different IP address while making you think that the site is legitimate.

In such instance, you could actually be connected to a fake website that looks like Twitter while seeing “Twitter.com” on your browser. Scammers usually use such tactics to trick people into revealing their user IDs and passwords for sites that look like the real thing. Usually, a good antivirus will alert you against bogus websites pretending to be legitimate. In other instances, one may want to access detailed information about a particular site. This is when a third-party DNS can become very useful.

Different DNS services can provide different information, and some are more accurate than others. Dnsinspect.com provides comprehensive and detailed DNS information involving different aspects of domain names. These include Parent servers, A records, NS records, Name servers, IPs, ASNs, SOA records, MX records, Mail servers, SPF records, and various other information. In this way, Dnsinspect.com can help reveal who is behind a particular website, as well as if the site is legitimate or fake.