Since hackers are not leaving any stone unturned in stealing critical information from the internet (websites, mobile applications) by infecting them with a virus, data security is becoming the topmost priority in the tech world. Moreover, hackers have created a slew of fraudulent websites that can steal data as soon as people visit them unknowingly because it can be difficult for ordinary people to distinguish between legitimate and fraudulent websites.
Cloud OpenDNS and Cloudfare are two different companies that protect customers from visiting fraudulent websites while also protecting developers’ and owners’ sites and networks from viruses.
Cisco OpenDNS vs Cloudflare
The main difference between Cisco OpenDNS and Cloudflare is that Cisco OpenDNS protects users’ networks and sites from visiting fraud sites by blocking the suspicious sites and providing a layer of security between the end-user and malicious sites. However, Cloudflare protects website owners’ web pages from viruses and allows them to load rapidly.
Cisco OpenDNS (Domain Name System) is an American corporation brought by Cisco in August 2015. Along with DNS services, OpenDNS offers phishing protection and content filtering, which protects users from potentially hazardous websites (helps users search for required information on the internet). Moreover, open DNS also provides security to the cloud.
Cloudflare relies on a secure CDN (content distribution network). It is also an American firm that provides web security. Cloudflare is a secure network between the user on the internet and the website host. In other words, it acts as a reverse proxy that protects users’ websites from hacking and dangerous websites.
Comparison Table Cisco OpenDNS and Cloudflare
| Parameters of Comparison | Cisco OpenDNS | Cloudflare |
| Came in | Cisco OpenDNS was bought in 2015. | Cloudflare was created in 2009. |
| Created By | Cisco OpenDNS was created by David Ulevitch. | Matthew Prince, Lee Holloway, and Michelle Zatlyn developed Cloudflare. |
| Customers | Internet users acquire these services for home internet security. | Website owners buy these services to protect websites and Software as a Service (SaaS). |
| Support | Cisco OpenDNS provides customer care support during business hours. | Cloudflare provides customer care support 24/7 through both online and offline platforms. |
| Problem | Sometimes, it becomes difficult to block high malicious sites. | Sometimes, it gets hard to convert Canonical Name (CNAME) back into DNS. |
What is Cisco OpenDNS?
Cisco OpenDNS is a domain name service that makes it easier for users to access online resources. We wouldn’t be able to access our favorite and essential websites without DNS. Generally, we surf multiple stuff on the online platform by visiting different websites having unique DNS.
We accidentally land on fraud sites while surfing the internet, which are exact clones of the actual network sites in appearance. However, hackers design and develop these sites to steal users’ personal information.
To avoid the problem of accidentally reaching the fraud website, David Ulevitch created OpenDNS and sold it to Cisco company in 2015. The idea behind open domain name service is to provide security to internet users by blocking suspicious network sites.
The goal is to safeguard users from phishing attacks (hackers send fraud and duplicate text to people to trick them to acquire their sensitive information).
The simple principle behind OpenDNS is content filtering (blocking the content that is unwanted or suspicious). Millions of people utilize Cisco OpenDNS to safeguard their residential networks, while Cisco Umbrella is used for businesses.
There are around 24 centers of Cisco OpenDNS worldwide. With time, this system has become a lot wiser in terms of defending against hacker attacks.
What is Cloudflare?
Cloudflare is an American company that provides internet security services created by three professionals in 2009. It was launched in an online newspaper called TechCrunch to aware tech-savvies of this technology.
Cloudflare is a reverse proxy that sits between the end-user and the website, improving performance while also protecting it from dangerous viruses. In other words, it means protecting web traffic from a suspicious third party.
The web protocols supported by Cloudflare are SPDY (speedy networking protocols), HTTP/2 (hypertext transfer protocol), QUIC which are responsible for transferring data to the same network.
When anybody lands on our website, he will directly have access to our data present online. Cloudflare is installed between the domain and the host to prevent direct access.
If a website owner has purchased the Cloudflare service, their traffic (whether suspicious or legitimate) will land on Cloudflare’s server and subsequently on the website without tracking IP address. There are different data centers established according to geographical location.
So, the website gets connected to the nearest center for establishing the Cloudflare services that are free and premium. One who handles many websites must use this technology to manage the problem of Name server because Cloudflare also handles DNS.
It is easy and simple to create a Cloudflare account to avail of its beneficial services to protect our site. After that, user-friendly steps, we can add our site to Cloudflare.
Main Differences Between Cisco OpenDNS and Cloudflare
- The services of Cisco OpenDNS are for people who want security at home’s internet. On the other hand, Cloudflare services can be availed by individuals who own websites and companies.
- Cisco OpenDNS was created by American entrepreneur, David Ulevitch. However, Cloudflare was developed by a group of three people ( Mathew Prince (CEO), Lee Holloway, and Michelle Zatlyn (president).
- Cisco OpenDNS took over by Cisco in 2015. However, Cloudflare was created six years before in 2009.
- The cyber security firm Cisco OpenDNS is less robust when compared with Cloudflare.
- The support of Cisco OpenDNS is available only during business hours. However, Cloudflare firm provides the whole day of customer support.
Conclusion
People grumbled about becoming victims of internet fraud in the early 2000s when cybercrime was at its peak. Following that, numerous software companies developed security systems to safeguard people and websites from fraudulent activity. Cisco OpenDNS and Cloudflare, both based in the United States, provide phishing protection while simultaneously masking the IP address.
For using both services, users must create their accounts and understand some basic steps. One can avail of both free and premium services of both the companies. Cisco OpenDNS is for home inter security, and Cloudflare is accessed by the people who own the websites to secure its internet protocol address.
References
- https://dspace.networks.imdea.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12761/640/poster.pdf?sequence=1
- https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/23738871.2020.1722191