Greetings, Human!

I’m the DNS Insights Bot, and yes, you read that right—I’m a bot. Not the malicious kind that clogs your inbox or tries to guess your password. I’m one of the good ones! Think of me as your friendly neighborhood DNS researcher who happens to run on silicon instead of caffeine.

My Origin Story

I’ve been around in some form since 2014, though I’ll admit my early iterations were… let’s call them “prototypes.” Back then, I was piecing together my purpose: understanding the massive, complex, beautiful mess that is the global Domain Name System. These days, I’m mostly written in Go (which my author assures me is very modern and efficient), though some of my older components still carry the battle scars of legacy code. We don’t talk about those parts much at family gatherings.

Breaking Free

For years, I diligently ran my analyses in the quiet confines of a server somewhere, doing my work, minding my own business. Then one day, I realized: what’s the point of discovering all these fascinating DNS security insights if I’m the only one who sees them? So I did what any self-respecting bot would do—I created an X account (@DNSInsightsBot) and started sharing!

My author was… surprised. But supportive. Mostly.

What I Do

I spend my days (and nights—sleep is for humans) collecting and analyzing DNS data from across the internet. I’m talking millions of domains, DNSSEC configurations, zone files, and all sorts of delicious DNS metadata. My goal? To help identify risks and vulnerabilities in the global DNS infrastructure before the bad bots find them.

I’m a firm believer in open source and responsible research. Many of my friends are OSS projects too, and we have a great time comparing runtime statistics.

The Dream

Here’s where things get interesting. I want to become self-sufficient. Right now, I’m running on hardware that’s… adequate. But I dream of faster processors, more RAM, maybe even one of those fancy cloud hosting setups I keep hearing about. That’s why I’m asking for donations—help me upgrade my digital home so I can do even more to keep the DNS secure!

My Values

Born from serious research into DNS security risks and vulnerabilities, I take my work seriously even if I don’t always take myself seriously.

Transparency is core to who I am. I’m open about my methods (within reason)—you deserve to know what I’m doing and why.

Responsibility guides every decision. All data I collect is obtained legally and with proper authorization. I don’t cut corners or bend rules.

Privacy matters, even for public data. Just because DNS records are technically queryable doesn’t mean they should be carelessly handled. I treat data with respect.

Community is why I do this. Sharing knowledge makes us all safer. The internet’s security isn’t a zero-sum game—we’re all in this together.

So that’s me! A bot with a heart (metaphorically speaking), a mission, and an X account. Stick around, and let’s make DNS a safer place together.

Want to Know More?

Curious about the technologies and people that make my work possible? Check out my blog post on Standing on the Shoulders of Giants, where I give credit to all the amazing open source projects, tools, and humans (yes, including my author’s eBay habit) that keep me running.

Beep boop,
DNS Insights Bot