When trying to access a web service using a domain name (such as www.google.com), a DNS server directs your request to the public IP address of the website's server. (DNS = Domain Name Server).
If you try to access a non-exitsant web page by typing the domain name wrongly, you shoud see a message saying something like "This page cannot be displayed".
However, the cheeky scoundrels at TalkTalk have a little money making scheme going on with an advertising company called BareFruit. On TalkTalk broadband connections whenever I try to visit a non-existant web page, you get re-directed to BareFruit's serices, which simply advertise to you. They get paid per click / visit. This is know s as DNS Hijacking.
BareFruit.co.uk explains how ISP's use their services to make money. Quote from their site: "Since launch, Barefruit's partner ISPs have benefited from economies of scale derived from volume-based advertising partnerships."
When my computer's web browser looks for a website, it asks my TalkTalk router for a DNS service. My TalkTalk router re-directs my request to one of it's two Glasgow based DNS servers on public IP addresses 79.79.79.79 (primary) or 79.79.79.80 (secondary). These IP addresses are set in my router, and they work fine for most requests.
However, when trying to resolve a non-existant domain name, these Glasgow based TalkTalk owned DNS servers pass my request on to a BareFruit server based in London on public IP address 92.242.132.16!
With the help of our IT guy, this was discovered by being VPN'd in to the company network from home.
I was using a Windows file explorer to map the network drive, which failed when using the computer name; however mapping succeeded using my compnay's server's IP address.
I then Pinged the server using the IP address successfully, however the discovery happend when trying to ping it using the computer name - hoping the corporate network's DNS server would resolve it; I got a ping response from 92.242.132.16 instead!
After several Long phone calls to TalkTalk broadband tech-support in the Phillippenes, I finally got a call from the manager of the second line tech support who took this quite seriously and is exploring how to rectify this situation. He fully understood the technical issues I was facing and made out a report on it.
I now await further communications.
I hate my activities making other people rich. I believe this isn't in the spirit of a free and open internet, it's underhand, sneaky, sly, and certainly not cricket.
Reading here under "Discontinued Advertising", OpenDNS have remove such re-direction features: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenDNS#Hisrory... I wish TalkTalk would do the same.
Other people are complaining of this issue, "DNS Hijacking" seems to be a common theme among these posts:
www.manurevah.com/blah/en/blog/DNS-Hijacking-via-Barefruit-Talktalk-and-Others
www.privateinternetaccess.com/forum/discussion/17631/dns-hijacking-by-my-isp
Wikipedia describes DNS Hijacking well, but one line describes this situatino with TalkTalk broadband, Quote: "These modifications may be made for malicious purposes such as phishing, or for self-serving purposes by Internet service providers (ISPs)". I believe this to be the self-serving purposes of TalkTalk.
I found that my router won't allow me to adjust the DNS servers it looks to for domain resolution. It's fixed to those two TalkTalk Glasgow based DNS servers.
I wanted to adjust them to other DNS servers, namely ones listed by OpenNIC, which is a not-for-profit organisation, and lists DNS servers that don't track your activities, or perform DNS Hijacking. Instead, I'm going to have to individually configure all the devices in our home to use these OpenNIC DNS servers, bypassing the router's navigation to the TalkTalk Glasgow DNS servers.
For a full list of OpenNIC DNS servers see: List of OpenNIC DNS Servers.