98 Guy wrote in :

Your testing looks thorough, but why do you conclude that a hosts
file works best?

Because it happens at the TCP/IP stack level - and it's a sledge hammer
when it comes to absolutely blocking your machine from being able to
contact any host of your choosing.


Ok, but bear in mind that's still a file access, and that's one of the
slowest events in any machine. A door may have an awesome lock, but it
also pays to watch the hinges.

A hosts file may also be vulnerable to attack itself, an expected target, but
I won't argue for or against the logic of that because vigilance tends to fix
all, and you're certainly vigilant.