Celebrating One Month of Domain Tagging Success, OpenDNS Shares Top 10 Most Popular Blocked Sites, Categories
Findings Reveal Network Administrators Want to Block Access to Phishing, Social Networking Sites Most
Mar 31, 2008 — San Francisco -- OpenDNS, the award-winning DNS provider that makes the Internet safer, faster, smarter and more reliable, today announced the top 10 most blocked Web sites and top 10 most blocked categories of Web sites across the entire OpenDNS network. The OpenDNS network provides services that make the Internet experience better for nearly 4 million Internet users worldwide. OpenDNS is the world's largest, fastest-growing DNS provider.
OpenDNS issued the lists to mark the first full month of the Domain Tagging system, the People-Powered Security platform that uses the intelligence of the community to perform a security function. Community members submit domains into the system and tag them with a category such as "gambling," "hate," "video sharing" or "social networking." Other community members vote on the accuracy of the submitter's tag. There is a trust metric built into the system so the more a community member votes and the more accurate their votes are the more weight they carry.
Once a tagged domain crosses a threshold of accurate votes, it is added into that category in the OpenDNS system and blocked across the OpenDNS service in real-time, instead of requiring a weekly or nightly update like other filtering tools. The service also provides network administrators the flexibility to block individual domains if they don't desire to block access to an entire category. In just one month since the Domain Tagging system launched, more than 340,000 domains have been tagged and submitted into the system.
A clear standout in the top 10 lists issued today is the popularity of blocking social networks, as four of the top 10 most blocked Web sites are social networking sites and the category of "Social Networking" is fourth only to "Phishing," "Adult" and "Gambling." MySpace and Facebook, two of the Internet's most popular social networking sites, are the No. 1 and No. 2 most popular blocked sites, respectively, across the OpenDNS network.
Findings also reveal network safety is a top priority for network administrators as "Phishing" is No. 1 most blocked category across the OpenDNS network. Phishing is a fraudulent attempt to steal personally identifying information such as bank account or Social Security number.
"With the power of our incredible community, OpenDNS has accomplished something remarkable -- adding more than 340,000 individual domains into the Domain Tagging system in just one month," said OpenDNS CEO David Ulevitch. "This success is yet more proof that the agility of OpenDNS makes our service far superior to the alternatives. Gone are the days of your filtering tool updating once nightly and leaving your network vulnerable in the meantime. OpenDNS's realtime updates are an invaluable service for network administrators and a true game-changer for the Internet security industry."
Top 10 Most Blocked Web Sites:
1. myspace.com
2. facebook.com
3. youtube.com
4. ebay.com
5. mail.yahoo.com
6. friendster.com
7. meebo.com
8. playboy.com
9. hotmail.com
10. bebo.com
Top 10 Most Blocked Web Site Categories:
1. Phishing
2. Adult
3. Gambling
4. Social Networking
5. Hate/Discrimination
6. Dating
7. Alcohol
8. Weapons
9. Games
10. Video sharing
About OpenDNS
OpenDNS is free to use and makes the Internet safer, faster, smarter and more reliable. Based in San Francisco, the company operates a large distributed network that powers a new kind of recursive DNS (Domain Name System) service that provides all Internet users increased security, reliability and performance. OpenDNS is thoroughly committed to building and operating the best DNS platform in the world and to improving the Internet. For more information about OpenDNS, please visit: http://www.opendns.com
OpenDNS issued the lists to mark the first full month of the Domain Tagging system, the People-Powered Security platform that uses the intelligence of the community to perform a security function. Community members submit domains into the system and tag them with a category such as "gambling," "hate," "video sharing" or "social networking." Other community members vote on the accuracy of the submitter's tag. There is a trust metric built into the system so the more a community member votes and the more accurate their votes are the more weight they carry.
Once a tagged domain crosses a threshold of accurate votes, it is added into that category in the OpenDNS system and blocked across the OpenDNS service in real-time, instead of requiring a weekly or nightly update like other filtering tools. The service also provides network administrators the flexibility to block individual domains if they don't desire to block access to an entire category. In just one month since the Domain Tagging system launched, more than 340,000 domains have been tagged and submitted into the system.
A clear standout in the top 10 lists issued today is the popularity of blocking social networks, as four of the top 10 most blocked Web sites are social networking sites and the category of "Social Networking" is fourth only to "Phishing," "Adult" and "Gambling." MySpace and Facebook, two of the Internet's most popular social networking sites, are the No. 1 and No. 2 most popular blocked sites, respectively, across the OpenDNS network.
Findings also reveal network safety is a top priority for network administrators as "Phishing" is No. 1 most blocked category across the OpenDNS network. Phishing is a fraudulent attempt to steal personally identifying information such as bank account or Social Security number.
"With the power of our incredible community, OpenDNS has accomplished something remarkable -- adding more than 340,000 individual domains into the Domain Tagging system in just one month," said OpenDNS CEO David Ulevitch. "This success is yet more proof that the agility of OpenDNS makes our service far superior to the alternatives. Gone are the days of your filtering tool updating once nightly and leaving your network vulnerable in the meantime. OpenDNS's realtime updates are an invaluable service for network administrators and a true game-changer for the Internet security industry."
Top 10 Most Blocked Web Sites:
1. myspace.com
2. facebook.com
3. youtube.com
4. ebay.com
5. mail.yahoo.com
6. friendster.com
7. meebo.com
8. playboy.com
9. hotmail.com
10. bebo.com
Top 10 Most Blocked Web Site Categories:
1. Phishing
2. Adult
3. Gambling
4. Social Networking
5. Hate/Discrimination
6. Dating
7. Alcohol
8. Weapons
9. Games
10. Video sharing
About OpenDNS
OpenDNS is free to use and makes the Internet safer, faster, smarter and more reliable. Based in San Francisco, the company operates a large distributed network that powers a new kind of recursive DNS (Domain Name System) service that provides all Internet users increased security, reliability and performance. OpenDNS is thoroughly committed to building and operating the best DNS platform in the world and to improving the Internet. For more information about OpenDNS, please visit: http://www.opendns.com
