DNS Protection Measures

DNS protection measures are the best way of addressing the threat posed by malware attacks trying to infiltrate your networks. This security tactic operates through the addition of an extra level of security between a user and the web to prevent the loading of web pages that are recognized as sources of scams, phishing, and malware attacks.

All time a page request is registered by a browser, a DNS lookup is carried out to identify the unique IP address to find the website that is being searched. Once identified by the DNS server the web page is loaded on your network. This entire process takes a millisecond.

Hackers will take aim at a DNS server to try and bring web browsers to their malicious websites. This is an action called DNS hijacking. There may also be attempts to take over the management of web sites using DNS response traffic in Denial of Service attacks.

These types of attack emphasise the need for companies to employ DNS protection measures to stop this from happening. The measures advised by most cybersecurity specialists include DNS security extensions which use digital signature key pairs to validate DNS queries and see to it that are received from the authentic source. DNS over TLS which encrypts plain text queries to stop them from being intercepted and changed in some manners. DNS over HTTPS which is like DNS over TLS as encryption is employed and also responses are masked inside different HTTPS traffic. A SIEM system and to send DNS data into the SIEM for monitoring and review.

These processes are conducted during the DNS lookup phase of a specific web request, before any content is served by the browser. The DNS does not differentiate between authentic websites and those used for malicious aims. Every web page has an IP address, and the DNS will hand over those addresses without question. DNS malware protection holds these IP addresses up to blacklists of recognized websites that have been linked with cyber attacks. If an IP address is malicious and blacklisted it will not be loaded and the browser will be shown a locally hosted page that tells them why their request has been denied.

DNS Protection Measures Advantages

DNS filtering has advantages over other forms of internet filtering including:

  • Filtering happens prior to content being served on a browser so there is no impact on internet speed. There is practically zero latency involved with DNS filtering.
  • There is no requirement for software installations or investment in more hardware as everything takes place in the cloud.
  • Easy installation takes place when you amend your DNS settings to point to the service provider’s DNS servers. The DNS servers employed by service suppliers may also be faster than those put in place by your ISP.

Along with giving you safer DNS processes, DNS protection measures will stop attacks from recognized sources trying to phish for log-in details while enabling companies to manage the range of content that can be seen by staff members. Using this security solution all access to pornography, gambling, dating, gaming, and peer-2-peer file sharing website can be disabled.