DNS attacks target more businesses than ever

Domain Name System (DNS) attacks, a generally low priority threat compared to ransomware, malware, distributed denial of service (DDoS), and targeted hacking, are on the rise and businesses are taking note.

A new report from the Neustar International Security Council (NISC) polling more than 300 professionals in leadership positions in six markets in the EMEA region and the United States found that 55% of them see DNS compromise as a threat growing, compared to 47% at the same time last year.

Almost three-quarters (72%) have experienced a DNS attack in the past 12 months, while among the targets, almost two-thirds (61%) have suffered multiple attacks and 11% are regularly attacked.

Break time

While many manage to recover within minutes, the majority (58%) experience disruption of at least an hour, according to the report, with some taking “several hours” to recover.

While websites are essential to business continuity and customer satisfaction for many, less than a third (31%) are confident that their security measures could handle a DNS attack. More than a quarter (27%) do not have this confidence, the report says.

There are different methods that cyber criminals use in their DNS attacks. DNS hijacking, DNS flooding, reflection or amplification attacks, DNS tunneling, cache poisoning have all been used to a good extent.

During a DNS attack, the malicious actor tries to take advantage of any vulnerabilities found in the domain name system. Although today’s DNS systems are relatively robust, they can still be abused. To defend against DNS attacks, according to TechTarget Search Security, experts recommend implementing multi-factor authentication when modifying the organization’s DNS infrastructure.

“DNS attacks may not grab the headlines like a big DDoS or ransomware attack does, but the business impact cannot be ignored and their ability to be ignored makes them even more dangerous,” said Michael Kaczmarek, Vice President of Product Management at Neustar Security Solutions. .

“To manage DNS security, organizations must continuously analyze DNS traffic leaving their organization, ensure that they maintain good hygiene and access controls for DNS-linked accounts, and most importantly, implement DNSSEC.

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