The Day the Internet Died   
   Posted October 21, 2016 by Adam Kujawa [A little late, but I just received it   
   this morning]   
       
   Okay, so I admit the title is a bit misleading and alarmist, but lots of folks   
   will agree this was a bad day to try and use the internet.   
       
   This is because today there was a massive DDoS attack that targeted one of the   
   DNS providers that acts as a backbone for the internet, especially in the   
   western part of the world.   
       
   The DNS provider targeted is called "DynDNS" and as mentioned before, acts as   
   a backbone for many western web surfers.   
       
   You can read about what happened all over news websites that you can still   
   access.   
       
   So rather than rehash everything you can read about by actual journalists, I   
   am here to tell you how to get around not being able to access your favorite   
   sites by changing your DNS settings on your computer.  Now be warned, this is   
   moderately technical and if you happen to make changes that makes the problem   
   worse, just walk backwards and undo what you did.   
       
   First we are going to be using the DNS servers of OpenDNS which exist for   
   problems like these and is a totally free, awesome service they provide.   
   #GoGoOpenDNS   
       
   Access your DNS settings   
       
   So in order to use their DNS servers, you will have to modify your DNS   
   settings on your computer, luckily OpenDNS provides assistance on how to get   
   there through their website, so click here to find out.   
       
   https://use.opendns.com/   
       
   Here is are some shortcuts to the more popular operating systems:   
       
       Mac OSX   
       Windows XP   
       Windows 7   
       Windows 10   
       
   Now before you modify your DNS settings, if there is already DNS IP addresses   
   listed in your settings, write those down somewhere, just in case you need to   
   put them back if things go wrong.   
       
   Did you do it? Okay good.   
       
   OpenDNS addresses   
       
   Next you are going to be putting in the IP addresses of the OpenDNS servers,   
   which at the moment are:   
       
       208.67.222.222   
       208.67.220.220   
       
   And once you have done that, you are done! Press apply and it should hopefully   
   work for you.  At this time you should be able to access your favorite sites   
   once again! If not, there is one more thing you can do that might solve your   
   problem.   
       
   Flushing DNS   
       
   You are going to need to do what is referred to as "Flushing DNS" which   
   basically means that any bad DNS requests or false IP addresses that your   
   system has saved, need to be cleared out so your system can request the new   
   ones from OpenDNS.   
       
   Here is a link to `WhatsmyDNS.net` which can help you with how to do this from   
   nearly every operating system.   
       
   Conclusion   
       
   At this point, if you are still unable to find those sites, either something   
   went wrong with the changes you made, something went wrong with OpenDNS, or   
   something went wrong with the web site you are trying to access. Regardless,   
   go ahead and step backward, either erasing your OpenDNS entries (or double   
   check them) so your ISP can give you the ones they prefer to use OR type in   
   the address you had previously.  Then you just wait until everything clears up.   
       
   This trick will not only help you in situations like a massive DDoS attack on   
   an internet backbone, but also if something goes wrong anytime your local DNS   
   server decides to stop working for you.   
       
   Let us know in the comments if this was helpful or if you would rather just   
   call up a family member to do it for you. Thanks for reading and safe surfing!   
       
       
   Regards,   
       
   Roger   
      
   --- DB 3.99 + W10 (1607)   
    * Origin: NCS BBS - Houma, LoUiSiAna (1:3828/7)