Going to websites through Google safer?

[Passions]

My coworker insists that going to sites like bofa.com or facebook.com by searching them through Google and clicking the links is much safer than directly typing in at the address bar.

His reasoning is that Google's servers are much safer than your local ISP DNS servers.

Is he right?

 

[zeruty]

Just because you follow a link on googles page, doesn't mean you are using google's dns server.

You click the link, your browser is still directed to connect to bofa.com or facebook.com, and your computer still sends the dns request to your ISP's dns servers.

So your friend is an idiot!

 

[Crusty]

Your friend is an idiot.

 

[balloonshark]

I'm not sure how much it helps, but I use scandoo.com when searching. I use the online version and not the plugin. It still uses google but gives you an green, yellow or red sign indicating the safety of a site. It's been in beta forever and I'm not sure if they will ever improve it.

 

[Sam25]

Originally posted by: zeruty
Just because you follow a link on googles page, doesn't mean you are using google's dns server.

You click the link, your browser is still directed to connect to bofa.com or facebook.com, and your computer still sends the dns request to your ISP's dns servers.

So your friend is an idiot!

Yes, that's correct.

 

[Red Squirrel]

In some cases it can be worse.

Do a search for a common program and chances are there will be a paid premium ad space for some bogus program with the same name, but it's a virus. That's just an example, but shows how you could easily be missdirected. If you type it yourself then at least you know you're going there.

And yeah, no matter what when you lookup a hostname you'll be using the same DNS. DNS happens at a slightly lower level then the application itself, it does not see the concept of whether you are browsing the internet, or connecting to an ftp server.