Norton DNS blocking question

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1

I thought Norton DNS (which I use) blocked the same sites as Norton Safe Web lite. However, when I tried to go to www. pcflank. com in Internet Explorer, Norton Safe Web lite popped up with a caution sign recommending I don't visit the site, but when I use a different browser that doesn't have Safe Web installed, Norton DNS let's me go to the site without any warning. Could someone please explain why it doesn't block it like Safe Web does? Thanks.

 

 

[Edit: Removing hyperlink to a potentially malicious website to conform with the Participation Guidelines and Terms of Service]

2
n01paranoid wrote:

I thought Norton DNS (which I use) blocked the same sites as Norton Safe Web lite. However, when I tried to go to www. pcflank. com in Internet Explorer, Norton Safe Web lite popped up with a caution sign recommending I don't visit the site, but when I use a different browser that doesn't have Safe Web installed, Norton DNS let's me go to the site without any warning. Could someone please explain why it doesn't block it like Safe Web does? Thanks.

Welcome,

Norton DNS has three levels of protection. If you use the most permissive level it allows sites which Safe Web may not. If you are using the most restrictive level it could easily block sites that Safe Web allows.

Hope this helps

3

Thanks Dick. Yes, I have it on the most permissive 'A'  setting, but I would still expect Norton DNS to block pcflank on this setting because it is supposed to block malware, and pcflank has been responsible for malware such as trojans and drive-by downloads. The B and C settings only relate to pornography and non-family friendly sites. 

4
n01paranoid wrote:

Thanks Dick. Yes, I have it on the most permissive 'A'  setting, but I would still expect Norton DNS to block pcflank on this setting because it is supposed to block malware, and pcflank has been responsible for malware such as trojans and drive-by downloads. The B and C settings only relate to pornography and non-family friendly sites. 

Hi,

You may be correct but then I would be surprised if everything were perfect. I'll see if I can make someone aware of this so that it can be checked. Differences I can understand, confusion I'm not fond of.

Thanks for pointing this out.

5

I would check to make sure your PC is using Norton DNS, just to be sure :smileywink:.   http://setup.nortondns.com/

6

Hi n01paranoid,

 

Are you actually getting a Norton page block that you have to click through to visit the site?  I do not.  For me, the site loads and a "Caution" icon is displayed in the Norton Toolbar.  Checking the Safe Web site, it also shows pcflank as a "Caution" site, rather than a "Warning" site.  The difference between "Caution" and "Warning" would explain why Norton DNS allows the site to be visited.  A "Caution" alert is not as serious as a "Warning,"  and does not rise to the level that would justify denying visitors access to a site.  See this thread for more on this:

 

http://community.norton.com/t5/Norton-Internet-Security-Norton/Norton-does-not-block-quot-yellow-quot-warning-links/m-p/654533/highlight/true#M194147

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Thanks for the replies. Just to clarify, and apologies for any confusion, Safe Web doesn't actually block pcflank but, as sendofjive says, the site loads and I get a caution pop up. I accept this isn't as serious as a warning, but why can't Norton DNS also show this caution sign? Is there any way this can be done? I would suggest we definitely need to be told about a site that has hosted trojans and drive-by downloads.

 

PS - I get the green OK sign to show Norton DNS is working fine.

8
n01paranoid wrote:

Thanks for the replies. Just to clarify, and apologies for any confusion, Safe Web doesn't actually block pcflank but, as sendofjive says, the site loads and I get a caution pop up. I accept this isn't as serious as a warning, but why can't Norton DNS also show this caution sign? Is there any way this can be done? I would suggest we definitely need to be told about a site that has hosted trojans and drive-by downloads.

 

PS - I get the green OK sign to show Norton DNS is working fine.

Hi,

I'm sure there's a way to do almost anything. The question becomes is the change worth enough to justify the resources required. I would recommend that you post this as a  suggestion in the product suggestion forum where the staff goes when they are looking for ideas to improve their products.

Thanks

9

Thanks Dick. I’ll do that.

10

Hi n01paranoid,

 

Norton Safe Web rates sites as orange (caution) or red (warning) based on the types of threats and the density on threats on the site. Sites rated rated are blocked by NortonDNS while sites rated orange are not blocked. Our base security products, NIS and N360 also block red sites and not orange sites.

 

The site pcflank.com is rated orangeand hence not blocked by NortonDNS.

 

regards

chandra

11

I've noticed, now that the product's name is changed to Norton ConnectSafe, it no longer claims to block Web proxies; I wonder, however...does it no longer block Web proxies? If so, I'm fully prepared to switch to it from Comodo Secure DNS.