Ever wonder how your computer knows exactly where to find websites when you type in addresses like "yourfavoritestore.com"? Behind every click and every online interaction is a system called DNS – the internet's phonebook – and it might just be your company's biggest security blind spot.
What is DNS and Why Should You Care?
DNS (Domain Name System) is essentially the address book of the internet. When you type a website name into your browser, DNS translates that human-friendly name into the numerical IP address that computers use to identify each other. It's happening silently in the background thousands of times a day across your business network, and the Internet. But here's the thing – this translation process happens largely unmonitored at most companies, creating a massive security vulnerability that cybercriminals love to exploit.
The Hidden Starting Point for Nearly Every Cyber Attack
Ask any cybersecurity expert about attack patterns and they'll tell you something surprising: almost all modern cyber attacks involve DNS at some stage. Why? Because DNS traffic is:
- Often completely unmonitored
- Typically allowed through firewalls
- Required for normal business operations
- Perfect for hiding malicious activity
When an employee accidentally clicks a phishing link, malware needs to "call home" to its command servers. When ransomware spreads through your network, it uses DNS lookups to coordinate its attack. When data is being stolen, DNS queries often facilitate the extraction.
Yet most businesses focus their security efforts elsewhere while leaving this critical pathway wide open.
Real-World DNS Attacks: The Growing Threat
The 2016 Dyn attack remains one of the most notorious DNS-based attacks in history. Hackers used a massive botnet to overwhelm Dyn, a major DNS provider, with traffic. The result? Widespread outages affecting major platforms like Twitter, Netflix, Reddit, and CNN. This single DNS attack managed to disrupt large portions of the internet for nearly a day.
More recently, Sea Turtle, a state-sponsored hacking campaign discovered in 2019, compromised at least 40 organizations across 13 countries. Rather than attacking companies directly, the hackers targeted DNS registrars and hosting services. By changing DNS records, they redirected legitimate traffic to look-alike sites where they captured credentials and other sensitive information.
In 2020, researchers uncovered a sophisticated malware operation that used DNS tunneling to steal payment card data from several major hotel chains. The malware established outbound DNS connections that looked like normal traffic but they were actually smuggling stolen credit card data out of the networks.
How DNS Becomes Your Weak Link
Cybercriminals exploit DNS in several creative ways:
- Phishing sites: Employees click links that look legitimate but lead to lookalike domains designed to steal credentials
- Command and control: Malware uses DNS to communicate with remote servers controlling the attack
- Data exfiltration: Sensitive information gets smuggled out through DNS tunneling
- DNS hijacking: Attackers redirect legitimate website requests to malicious sites
- Domain generation algorithms: Advanced malware constantly creates new random domains to avoid detection
What makes these attacks particularly dangerous is that traditional security tools often miss them completely.
The Business Protection You're Probably Missing
This is where DNS filtering and protection solutions become essential. These tools monitor and filter DNS traffic, giving you control over one of your most vulnerable security gaps. A good DNS security solution will:
- Block access to known malicious domains
- Prevent connections to newly registered suspicious domains
- Stop data exfiltration through DNS tunneling
- Alert security teams to anomalous DNS behavior
- Protect remote workers even when they're not on the company network
Most importantly, these solutions work proactively, stopping threats before connections are established rather than detecting damage after it's done.
DNS Protection Success Stories
When hit by a ransomware attack in 2019, the city of New Bedford, Massachusetts credited their DNS filtering system with preventing the attack from spreading beyond 4% of their network. The DNS protection identified and blocked suspicious domain requests that the ransomware needed to function properly, saving the city from potentially paying a $5.3 million ransom.
In another case, the UK's National Health Service (NHS) implemented DNS filtering following the devastating WannaCry ransomware attack. In the year following implementation, they reported blocking over 80 million connection attempts to malicious sites across the healthcare system.
Getting Started With DNS Security
The good news is that adding DNS protection doesn't require a complete security overhaul. Most solutions can be implemented alongside your existing security tools and configured in days, not months. Look for options that offer:
- Cloud-based deployment for quick implementation
- Protection that extends to remote workers
- Detailed reporting on blocked threats
- Integration with your existing security stack
- Minimal impact on network performance
The Bottom Line
In today's threat landscape, comprehensive security requires closing the DNS blind spot. As sophisticated attacks become more common, businesses can no longer afford to leave the internet's addressing system unprotected.
Remember: the most effective security measures address how attacks actually happen, not just how we think they might happen. And almost all attacks involve DNS. Is your business's front door locked while you're leaving all the windows wide open? If you're not monitoring DNS, the answer might be yes.
And if you're wondering where to get good DNS protection, as well as a number of other critical cybersecurity services, click on the Contact tab, and let us know!