OpenDNS

Sector: Networking tools, enabling services

Headquarters: San Francisco, CA

Management: Billing itself as “we’re geeks, if you couldn’t tell,” the team consists of founder & CEO David Ulevitch, product VP John Roberts, VP engineering Wesley Yeremenko, and a host of additional networking-savvy folks.

Funding: Minor Ventures (CNet founder’s Halsey Minor’s boutique firm) has invested.

Secret Sauce: As we type in the names of the websites we want to visit or e-mail addresses we want to reach, we’re relying on the venerable DNS, or domain name system to get our browser or e-mail to the right destination. DNS services, often provided by our ISPs, automatically translate URLs like “craigslist.org” to their numerical IP addresses. But not all DNS services available to consumers offer protection from phishers, spammers, and bot-herders.

Enter OpenDNS. You can use its service by changing the DNS settings on your computer or your web-enabled mobile phone. Not only does it block out phishing sites, but it offers autocorrection of common spelling mistakes–in case you inadvertently type “.og” instead of “.org”–and it’s really fast due to its vast cache and big network of anycast servers. OpenDNS is free to use–it makes money from ads on a search results page it shows you when the domain name you typed in doesn’t lead anywhere the service (or its known-typo list) recognizes, and from private-label services. Although the autocorrection feature has been tried before, OpenDNS updates it nicely by letting you set preferences and opt in or out of its various features. All in all, for those worried about phishing–and who doesn’t have moments of concern about it, and online identity theft during this season of frantic online Christmas shopping?–OpenDNS sounds like a good way to increase safety and speed while surfing the web.

Seen and Heard: “Works great, at least for me,” blogs David Pogue at the NY Times, while KETV also gave the service a positive review for usability and speed.