What Is DNS Security?

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) reports that 43% of cyberattacks perpetrated by threat actors and cybercriminals are aimed at small businesses. [1] This volatility in the cybersecurity landscape for small businesses means that even the least tech-savvy SMB owners need to have a layman’s understanding of cybersecurity in order to strategize effectively with the network administrators, IT specialists, or IT service providers they employ.

Prior to engaging with an IT services provider or hiring a professional IT specialist, small-business owners should familiarize themselves with the basics of network security. Of the various points of vulnerability, SMB owners should prioritize an exploration of what DNS security is and how it factors into planning and executing a strategy that secures the DNS level of network access and protects the organization’s data and information.

The Domain Name System (DNS) is, at its core, the directory for the internet and is responsible for translating domain names into IP addresses. DNS allows web browsers to locate and then serve up requested web pages to users. Because of its critical role in the modern digital landscape, the DNS interface is often targeted by malicious threat actors in sophisticated cyberattacks. Prone to being targeted by these attacks, it’s crucial that small-business owners make DNS security a priority when contracting with IT service providers or strategizing with their in-house IT specialists.

According to the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model, the popularly accepted visualization of the various layers in a standard network, DNS operates at the end-user focused application layer. [2] DNS-layer data can be gathered at the application layer through the DNS monitoring tools to enhance the overall security of your organization’s network. There are multiple layers of security and best practices that should be implemented in order for your DNS access to be properly secured.

Creates a barrier between your network and malicious sites

Because user requests for access to a website are an often leveraged point of attack by malicious actors, DNS security provides a first layer of defense. Effective protection at the DNS interface level requires your IT team to actively program and manage the tools designed to prevent users from connecting to rogue domains known for hosting malware and other malicious code.

Enforces the rules established by your network administrators

In network security, protocols act as rules that govern access to your network as well as what actions users can take. One of the most important DNS-level protocols is DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC), as it provides additional protection against fraudulent and forged DNS entries, so that users can’t be redirected to malicious sites.

Leverages DNS logging protocols to gather actionable data

DNS-level security measures require a constant flow of information and data in order to remain up to date and capable of preventing corruption or theft of data. DNS server management tools provide a number of configurable logging options that are flexible enough to allow your network administrator to identify problems or mitigate the efforts of threat actors attacking the DNS infrastructure.

Experienced IT professionals and service providers will understand configuring your network with the right security protocols and third-party tools is necessary in order to protect against some of the most popular and effective DNS-level attacks.

• Spoofing or cache poisoning redirects users to fake websites, where malware and other malicious code might then be uploaded.

• DNS tunneling attacks are structured to circumvent firewalls and other security barriers to deliver malware to user systems.

• DNS hijacking, also referred to as DNS redirection, are attacks designed to redirect users to a malicious website.

• Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) amplification attacks overwhelms the network with such a high volume of traffic that the DNS servers cannot respond to any queries and disrupts access.

In this section, let’s explore best practices that can mitigate and prevent DNS-layer attacks.

Patching and authentication

Spoofing and other DNS-level cyberattacks often rely upon exploiting vulnerabilities in unpatched software that controls your DNS servers. Ensuring your systems are patched and updated allows your DNS-layer security protocols to properly authenticate DNS data and ensure traffic isn’t being redirected while filtering queries away from an evolving landscape of malicious websites.

Monitoring and protection

Trained network administrators can use DNS monitoring tools to track incoming and outgoing traffic across your organization’s domains. Tools can be used to flag anomalous DNS traffic for follow up to determine which systems have been compromised and make the appropriate adjustments to security protocols to protect against evolving threats. This can mitigate against DNS tunneling and reveal the early stages of DDoS attacks.

Defense against DDoS

DDoS attacks are not only a concern for large enterprises—GetApp’s 2023 Data Security Survey found that nearly one in four (24%) IT security managers at small and midsize businesses (250 or fewer employees) list DDoS attacks among the threats they’re most concerned about in the coming year.* 

In addition to DNS firewall management and the use of third-party anti-DDoS service providers, network administrators aware of the dangers posed by DDoS attacks can configure server architecture in order to harden the DNS server against the various tactics utilized in a DDoS attack.   For example, when threat actors execute DDoS attacks, they are causing a failure in the DNS server by flooding it with traffic and queries. Server architecture that includes redundant DNS servers can ensure network availability across backup servers in the event the primary DNS server fails or is compromised. 

DNS servers can also be configured with load balancing tools to shift traffic between DNS servers and response rate limits to control the volume at which queries can be made. DNS servers can also be configured to adhere to a standard response time to DNS queries, which can throttle traffic spikes during a DDoS attack. These tactics are useful to mitigate the flooding of requests leveraged by threat actors seeking to use various methods of network traffic manipulation to compromise your systems.

Zero-trust infrastructure is an increasingly popular approach to cybersecurity. With a zero-trust approach to securing your network, network administrators treat everything on the network, including systems, devices, users, data, and automations, as untrusted and potentially malicious until they can be verified as valid. The zero trust approach to DNS security can be especially effective given the benefits that arise from protecting the DNS interface from some of the most damaging types of cyberattacks in play.

Data protection

Threat actors often leverage DNS-layer attacks to gain a foothold in targeted systems and establish methods for exfiltrating sensitive or valuable data. DNS security establishes a threshold via filtering and DNS traffic management that makes it difficult for attackers to bypass and ensures malware and ransomware are held at bay. If the tools to extract and compromise private data can’t make it onto the target system, then that data remains safe. 

Phishing prevention

With 74% of cyber incidents stemming from user behaviors, it should be no surprise that DNS-layer cyberattacks often rely upon user behaviors to gain a foothold in target networks. [3] Configured to block malicious URLs and domains, DNS security measures help protect business networks against user error in the event of phishing attacks. Configured correctly, DNS security can effectively protect your network if a user does click on a malicious link in a phishing email, as the filtering will prevent your employee from being redirected unknowingly. 

Cybersecurity enhancement

One of the most effective approaches to cybersecurity is to embrace a multi-layered defense in depth (DiD) strategy. A cybersecurity strategy that depends upon security measures deployed across the various layers, physical and digital, of your network, DiD is bolstered tremendously by a robust DNS security protocol. A well-structured DNS security protocol fortifies the network perimeter, which prevents the initiation of most attack cycles, often referred to as a kill chain. 

Privacy and compliance

Data privacy and protection are increasingly the focus of stringent regulations and legislation. Concurrently, cyber liability insurance policies have become a popular offering to organizations that rely heavily upon private data to conduct business.

In order to remain protected under these policies and remain compliant with regulatory requirements, organizations need to be seen as having a well-structured, prevention-focused cybersecurity infrastructure in place. Incorporating DNS security at the front end of the organization’s network interface helps to fulfill your organization’s due diligence in maintaining a technically secure and protected digital infrastructure. 

Even the smallest business relies on private user data in order to streamline and manage their business practices. As evidenced by increasingly stringent and complex regulatory requirements, small businesses can no longer afford to treat cybersecurity as optional. 

Whether you’re handling cybersecurity with in-house IT staff or through an IT service provider, the strategy your team puts together must include a strategy for securing the DNS-layer of access. This is a crucial component for any cybersecurity plan, as the DNS infrastructure of even the smallest business must be secured in order to protect against some of the most prevalent cybersecurity attacks being executed by modern threat actors.