An internet filter inspired by Jewish values

What began as a Sydney father’s attempt to create a safe internet environment for his own family has evolved into a free community service protecting thousands of users worldwide.

Michael Brody created ShomerDNS after realising the internet posed daily risks to his family – from misleading search results and deceptive pop-ups to inappropriate content appearing without warning.

“A simple typo in a web address, a misleading search result, or a pop-up that looked legitimate could instantly take you somewhere you never intended to go,” Brody said.

He started putting together small, practical solutions at home, tweaking settings and blocking known bad domains. It wasn’t elegant or public-facing – it was just something he built quietly to solve a problem in his own house.

But as he talked with friends and other parents, Brody realised he wasn’t alone. They were seeing the same things – scam sites that looked real, inappropriate content appearing without warning, and a sense that existing parental controls either didn’t go far enough or were too complicated to manage.