A user on Reddit has warned all MyEtherWallet users to stop using it immediately if they are using Google’s DNS (8.8.8.8/8.8.4.4). Reddit user MickySocaci says that these two DNS servers are resolving the site’s domain to a server that is malfunctioning and could potentially steal your private keys.

In the thread, the Reddit user has also appended code that proves what he is claiming. Here is the link to the post;

https://www.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/8ek86t/warning_myetherwalletcom_highjacked_on_google/

What is a DNS and How Does it Crash?

A DNS server is a computer server that contains the IP addresses and their associated hostnames. It is also a DNS’s job to convert or resolve an IP of a website to its name. When a server fails to do so, because of whatever reason, it is called a DNS server crash.

A world wide web directory like Google provides DNS services to everyone who uses their in-house browser Google Chrome. And when it crashes, it essentially sends all the queries to a defunct server that searches the device’s cache for the IP and redirects or resolves to a completely unrelated site.

Similar Hacks

The internet is a place that is becoming synonymous with hacks and site hijacks for all those who access restricted content. The malfunction of Google’s DNS service is not an isolated incident that is affecting the crypto market alone. It is, rather, a very common occurrence with respect to all websites and markets that use Google as a way of redirecting traffic to their home sites.

Google is, hands down, the largest and most used search engine in the world. It deals with more than 150 billion queries per day. So when it’s DNS servers fail or malfunction, you can be quite sure a lot of internet companies and websites are being affected.

Similar crashes have lead to hijacking of financial institution databases, healthcare databases etc.

Exercise Caution

The warning issued on Reddit seems to be genuine. It has code proof as well. So it might just be a good idea for all users of MyEtherWallet to steer clear of the site and its use until Google gets the DNS servers up and running again.  

Ramaa Mohan