Here you will see working solutions against DNS poisoning attacks. Apply these steps and protect your business from the harmful effects they could have on it.
What is DNS poisoning?
DNS poisoning or DNS spoofing is a type of attack in which the bad actors manipulate the DNS traffic, usually by infecting the DNS cache and directing this traffic towards a fake website they control. The idea is that the visitors won’t know they are redirected to a site that bad actors manage because it will look just like the real site. There they can leave their private data that the criminals can use in the future.
The poisoning comes from the fact that the criminals infect the authoritative name server for a domain, a recursive name server’s cache, or the DNS server on a visitor’s device and change the DNS records in it.
How to protect against DNS poisoning from the backend side?
If you manage your DNS infrastructure here, you have a few tips that will keep you safe from DNS poisoning attacks:
- Make a match between request and response data. What you should apply is an active checker that can allow only real answers. No more response data that comes to your name servers that nobody asked for.
- Implement DNSSEC. DNSSEC is a really good way to secure DNS requests with the help of encryption. It is a chain of trust in which each level above can verify the one below.
- Regularly patch the software of the DNS servers and update them. Bad actors are always searching for new vulnerabilities. At the same time, the software developers try to keep up with the security. So there are often new patches and updates that improve the security.
- Active filtering of DNS traffic. There are various services that can help with this task. They can check the traffic, analyze it and remove the malicious traffic before it comes to your authoritative name servers.
- Limit access to your Primary authoritative name server. You can use the Whitelist method and limit access to it from only trusted IP addresses. You can also hide it completely. Make it harder for the hackers.
How to protect against DNS poisoning from the client’s side?
- Use end-to-end encryption. Always check that the site that you are visiting has a valid SSL certificate. It will ensure your safe communication.
- Use spoofing detection tools. There is software that can analyze data packets before sending them, and that way, find a threat before it is too late.
- Use a VPN (Virtual Private Network). It will encrypt all your communication and create a safe tunnel between your device and the site you are visiting.
- Use antivirus software. It could detect an infected file and stop it from downloading or executing its code.
- If you have any doubts, flush your DNS cache. You can flush your DNS cache, and that way, remove all the previously saved DNS records that are on your device. That way, your device will need to make new requests.
Conclusion
Protecting from DNS poisoning attacks is possible, and you can do it no matter from which side of the process you are. Use the tips above and stay safe. Also, be sure that you have done everything possible to protect your visitors and their private data.
