Hello,
I got a HNS-DNS-HIJACK pop-up on a network scan. I’m not an IT expert but I believe I’ve done all the straightforward things I can and I’m still getting the warning.
Checked my https://whoismydns.com/ and it gave me a Telus DNS - I’m using Telus in Canada for my provider so that seemed good. Still I logged into my router, changed the DNS to the google one (8.8.8.8 / 8.8.4.4). Checked https://whoismydns.com/ again, now it gave me a google DNS, so also good.
I checked Shields Up on GRC.com and it gave me a Did Not Respond To Our UPnP probes, so also good.
But I was still getting the warning on a network scan. So a reset the router, then re-changed the password - still warnings. Changed to google DNS again - still warnings. Shields up and whoismydns still say I’m good.
At this point I’m wondering if it is a VPN problem. I’m running covenant eyes - it’s basically a VPN+“Corn” blocker, but there is also a feature where you can block any website, so I block a bunch for timewasting reasons as well.
Interesting Avast gives me a list of 5 “Hijacked domains” when I press the fix issue button related to the DNS hijack warning: play.google.com, bing.com, avg.com, yahoo.com, baidu.com - interesting because all of these are already blocked by my VPN.
Is it possible this is a false positive? That Avast is bumping up against by VPN blocker and thinking it’s a DNS hijack? I’m going to ask my VPN support as well and I’ll update the post if they have a useful response.
Am I missing anything that I can do on my side? I’m not sure what to do beyond running all my anti-mal/spyware programs fully, resetting the router and changing it’s passwords and DNS. I’m using free Avast currently, I can afford to pay for it though if there are other features that could be helpful - though it should be noted Covenant Eyes does have some conflicts with some of the paid Avast features (https://support.covenanteyes.com/hc/en-us/articles/12747462365723-Is-my-antivirus-program-compatible-with-Covenant-Eyes-on-a-Windows-computer-) - hence me thinking this might be a free version extension of those conflicts and therefore a false positive.
Sorry for the length! But I know with these things it can be helpful to be thourough.
Thanks for your help!