Unblock domain name from Internet Security

Hello, everyone 👋

In this article I am going to share my experience in unblocking domain name kishoreconnect.com from Internet Security like OpenDNS, McAfee Web Gateway etc.

I own the domain kishoreconnect.com but it was not in use for more than a year. Now that I host this blog portal via hashnode.com, I had no issues accessing this portal in internet, but, when I attempted to access via my work network, it was blocked by series of Internet Security services.

OpenDNS

OpenDNS is a company providing Domain Name System resolution services with features such as Phishing Protection, Content Filtering and more. My domain was categorized as parked domain by OpenDNS and blocked in work network. When I visited the website, I received a message from block.opendns.com that the domain was categorized as "Parked Domains". Secure network like your work network normally have policies to block certain category domain names / websites. Parked Domain category is one of them.

I fixed this by creating a ticket with Cisco Umbrella (OpenDNS enterprise product) in this link requesting them to review the domain name categorization again. If you have issues accessing your domain name in Internet, then submit a ticket with OpenDNS in this link or follow this. OpenDNS team will respond to your ticket within 2 to 3 days.

McAfee Web Gateway

Now that I got unblocked in OpenDNS, next in line blocking my domain was McAfee Web Gateway. It is an Internet security service that provides web protection by content filtering, malware scanning and more. I came to know my domain was "unverified" in McAfee Web Gateway database by the block error message in my work network. Unverified category domain / website is normally blocked in secured network.

I confirmed my domain categorization with McAfee by going here. The same form give you an option to request McAfee to review the categorization, you can either use that or create an account and submit the request for better tracking. McAfee responded to my ticket in 2 days re-categorizing the domain appropriately. Now I am able to access kishoreconnect.com in my work network as well.

Conclusion

You may run into this situation as well, if so, do not worry, there are many other Internet Security services like Cloudflare, Quad9, Cleanbrowsing, Pihole etc. and all provide an option for you in their website to submit a ticket to re-categorize your domain name appropriately, so it doesn't get blocked in a secured network like your work network.

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned 🙂