In a joint project, IBM Security along with Packet Clearing House (PCH) and The Global Cyber Alliance (GCA) today launched a free service designed to give consumers and businesses added online privacy and security protection. The new DNS service is called Quad9 in reference to the IP address 9.9.9.9 offered for the service. The group says the service is aimed at protecting users from accessing malicious websites known to steal personal information, infect users with ransomware and malware, or conduct fraudulent activity.

Quad9 is said to provide these protections without compromising the speed of users’ online experience. From the announcement: “Leveraging PCH’s expertise and global assets around the world, Quad9 has points of presence in over 70 locations across 40 countries at launch. Over the next 18 months, Quad9 points of presence are expected to double, further improving the speed, performance, privacy and security for users globally. Telemetry data on blocked domains from Quad9 will be shared with threat intelligence partners for the improvement of their threat intelligence responses for their customers and Quad9.”

— The Genesis of Quad9: “Quad9 began as the brainchild of GCA. The intent was to provide security to end users on a global scale by leveraging the DNS service to deliver a comprehensive threat intelligence feed. This idea lead to the collaboration of the three entities: GCA: Provides system development capabilities and brought the threat intelligence community together; PCH: Provides Quad9’s network infrastructure; and IBM: Provides IBM X-Force threat intelligence and the easily memorable IP address (9.9.9.9).”

— Philip Reitinger, President and CEO of the Global Cyber Alliance: “Protecting against attacks by blocking them through DNS has been available for a long time, but has not been used widely. Sophisticated corporations can subscribe to dozens of threat feeds and block them through DNS, or pay a commercial provider for the service. However, small to medium-sized businesses and consumers have been left behind—they lack the resources, are not aware of what can be done with DNS, or are concerned about exposing their privacy and confidential information. Quad9 solves these problems. It is memorable, easy to use, relies on excellent and broad threat information, protects privacy, and security and is free.”