Significance Of Securing And Simplifying DNS Infrastructure

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Securing DNS infrastructure has become a top priority to improve the customer experience. As the name suggests, DNS (Domain Name System) is a mainstay protocol that translates user-readable domain names to IP addresses and vice-versa. That’s why it is often called the ‘Phonebook of the Internet’.

However, DNS is the most vulnerable network protocol. Ensuring DNS security is significant to protect your network from cyber threats, hackers, spoofing, or tunnelling. For this reason, many businesses prefer to rely on their own DNS infrastructure to keep their domains confidential. However, it still comes with various security challenges. Therefore, a high-end security plan needs to be implemented in organizations to deal with the immediate threats of DNS infrastructure.

This mini guide discusses the best network security solutions for businesses and the challenges associated with traditional DNS servers.

Key Takeaways

• Though DNS is the fundamental component for Internet operations, yet it is the most insecure protocol. It is the easiest target of hackers.
• DNS is vulnerable to phishing, fraudulent, botnet, and malware attacks.
• DNS security prevents websites from redirecting to spoofed platforms by blocking suspicious content and activities.
• DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions) deployment authenticates user details, privacy, and data confidentiality.

According to a recent Neustar International Security Council (NISC) study, approximately 72% of companies have experienced a domain name system (DNS) attack within the last year.

Challenges with the traditional DNS infrastructure

Complexity

The deployment of numerous security devices makes the network more complex. As each device has its own interface, it becomes quite difficult to manage and troubleshoot all the devices simultaneously. Furthermore, the mismanagement can create network connectivity issues or security gaps.

Increases cost

DNS servers require regular upgrades to meet users’ demands and the high volume of traffic. Buying multiple devices or licenses may add to the overall operational cost.

Low performance

Switching to advanced DNS technologies like DoH/DoT needs TLS decryption/encryption and consumes most of the processor’s power. Thus lowering the overall speed and performance of the DNS server.

DNS cyber threats

DNS servers face severe challenges, including hijacking, spoofing, and DDoS (Distributed denial of service) attacks. They are the favourite target of attackers who want to access users’ confidential data, redirect to malicious websites, etc.

Scalability 

DNS servers lack in providing scalable network solutions which negatively impacts the system’s performance, and efficiency. The traditional DNS infrastructure needs to be capable of handling high traffic volumes.

Best practices to secure DNS layer

DNSSEC

Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) guarantees cryptographic authentication to secure users’ data and privacy, which DNS alone cannot do. DNSSEC immediately verifies if a domain is secure or not during the retrieval of IP addresses. It also allows the domain owners to generate a lock key to secure and authenticate the data.

DNS firewall

It’s another network security solution to identify, filter, or block potential cyber threats like DNS tunnelling, hijacking, poisoning, or any other malicious attacks. Such dedicated DNS security solutions ensure smooth network operations and seamless connectivity.

Restrict zone transfers 

To protect the network from unauthorized access, operators can limit the zone transfers and implement Access Control Lists (ACLs) to control which DNS servers can continue with zone transfers.

Wrapping up! 

Businesses nowadays need to focus on developing foolproof solutions to manage cybersecurity risks. It is important to ensure that DNS security solutions comply with regulatory reports and can automatically mitigate malicious threats. Organizations can stop susceptibilities from turning into vulnerabilities by incorporating SOC services from Airtel into their business model.