Definition of DNS attacks
What is the definition of DNS attacks? The term refers to a type of cyber attack in which malicious hackers target an organization’s DNS servers, which hold domain names that the hackers seek. They can then carry out the assaults listed below once they obtain those domain names. In addition, bad actors can potentially check for vulnerabilities in a system to exploit.
Any attack against the availability or stability of a network’s DNS service is referred to as a DNS attack. DNS assaults include cache poisoning and other attacks that use DNS as a method as part of a larger attack strategy.
What is the motivation behind DNS attacks?
3 prevalent DNS attacks that you need to know
- DNS poisoning
A DNS poisoning, commonly known as DNS cache poisoning or DNS spoofing attack, ruins the DNS server by replacing the original IP address with a fraudulent one stored in the server’s cache memory. Attackers employ this approach to divert web traffic to a hacker-controlled website where sensitive data is harvested. Furthermore, these malicious websites are frequently used to infect end users’ computers with viruses or worms, giving the threat actor long-term access to the machine and any data it saves.
- Amplification attack
An amplification attack is any attack in which the attacker can multiply their power by using an amplification factor. Amplification attacks are “asymmetric.” What does this mean? This is when an attacker only needs a small number of low levels of resources to cause a much larger number or higher level of target resources to malfunction or fail. Some of the most widespread amplification attacks are, for example, Fraggle Attacks (UDP amplification), Smurf Attacks (ICMP amplification), and DNS Amplification.
- DNS tunneling
DNS Tunneling is the last major DNS attack. It uses DNS to encrypt (tunnel) malware and other data in DNS requests and responses (client-server way).
In a nutshell, here is how it works. First, a criminal registers a domain and links it to its own name server. In this final phase, a tunneling trojan is installed. A machine that has been infected makes a request to a DNS resolution server. DNS requests can freely get through firewalls because DNS is authorized. Here is when the risk begins. The resolver forwards the request to the criminal’s server, which establishes a link between the criminal and the target via the DNS resolution server. Because there is no direct link between the target and the criminal, the criminal’s computer is hidden and difficult to detect.
Is it possible to be protected?
You now realize how dangerous DNS hacks may be. Here are some strategies for dealing with them:
- Implement DNSSEC. DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions) is a DNS security extension. It gives DNS data that travels the internet with cryptographic verification, validating the source and integrity of the DNS data.
- Use Monitoring service. Monitoring outgoing and inbound queries is the first step in discovering abnormalities. Furthermore, the context information offered by your answer data allows for a more thorough forensic investigation.
- Install a firewall. A firewall is a network security solution (hardware, software, or both) that protects networks by utilizing certain functionality and security rules. Incoming and outgoing traffic monitoring, traffic filtering, unauthorized outsider access blocking, suspicious traffic blocking, and dangerous program blocking are just some of the features available.
Conclusion
You are now familiar with the most popular DNS attacks – DNS poisoning, Amplification attack, and DNS tunneling. So, if you want to protect yourself against them, you could implement DNSSEC, Install a firewall or use a Monitoring service for your traffic.