I had just reformatted one of my machines and when I was configuring hblock at the time the lists were being downloaded some kind of hacker attack, perhaps man the middle, probably changed one of these files that are downloaded by hblock, resulting in failures in loading websites through the system’s DNS. Websites like the mullvad vpn were not possible to access. I had to disable and reset the configuration and this time with the vpn logged in, download the hblock list to return to normal. It seems to me that at the time the system is being installed for the first time, somehow, criminals take advantage of these loopholes to infect the system. I was unable to capture anything that could prove whether or not something happened and if it could still be in the system, but if it were possible, someone who understands could check it so that, if in doubt, they can prevent it from happening to other people.
It is more likely hblock was not configured correctly than it is a hacker was trying to meddle with your network configuration for some unknown benefit. Hblock sets up a custom hosts file by the way, which can certainly break DNS if it is not set up right.
It sounds like you got it straightened out now, but if you have issues with hblock in the future you should open an issue on their GitHub page instead of here. GitHub - hectorm/hblock: Improve your security and privacy by blocking ads, tracking and malware domains.
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