DNSSEC explained step by step

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Are you worried that your website is vulnerable to data breaches? Are you looking for an effective, secure way to protect your online presence? If so, the answer may lie in DNSSEC – a robust digital security protocol designed to protect against malicious attacks. In this blog post, we’ll explore DNSSEC and why it’s essential for any organization with an online presence. We’ll also discuss how it can help protect your data from hackers and other cybercriminals. So fasten your seatbelt and get ready – let’s dive into DNSSEC!

What does DNSSEC mean?

DNSSEC, or Domain Name System Security Extensions, is a protocol to protect internet users from malicious cybersecurity threats. DNSSEC provides an added layer of security when connecting to websites and other online services by allowing the user’s device to verify that it is communicating with the intended website. It does this by digitally signing every DNS lookup request so that both parties can be sure who they are talking with. Additionally, DNSSEC also supports cryptographic algorithms. It helps organizations protect their sensitive information from unauthorized access and misuse through encryption techniques such as SSL/TLS protocols (Secure Sockets Layer / Transport Layer Security). This means that any attempts at communications interception or man-in-the-middle attacks will fail because DNSSEC verifies all incoming requests against stored cryptographic keys included in its reply.

How to implement it?

The implementation of DNSSEC involves a few steps:

  1. First, the domain must be registered with a provider who supports DNSSEC.
  2. Then each server associated with the domain must create its unique set of secure digital signatures.
  3. Finally, these records (DNS A record, MX record, etc.) need to be published on DNS servers as part of their data sets for public access and resolution when someone looks up information related to that domain name. These records ensure authenticity while protecting communication between two points on the network from unauthorized third-party interceptions or spoofing attempts which could otherwise jeopardize users’ privacy and sensitive data transmission activities like banking logins etc.

Thanks to this additional authentication system implemented through DNSSEC protocols, many more organizations can trust their clients’ data safety even in hostile environments like those presented by cybercriminals today!

Keys for DNSSEC

The DNSSEC protocol employs two different kinds of keys:

  • The individual record sets within the zone are signed and validated using the zone signing key (ZSK).
  • The DNSKEY records in the zone are signed using the key signing key (KSK).

These two keys are both kept in the zone file as “DNSKEY” records.

How does DNSSEC use DS records?

A DS record (Delegation Signer Record) is used within DNSSEC when delegating a subdomain or child zone outwards across different hierarchy levels. The DS record details how the parent entity should query its delegated child zones so they can be securely validated using digital signatures provided through Domain Name System Security Extensions protocol implementation at both ends. By adding DS records configured adequately along with other necessary keys/settings, it’s possible to provide authenticated denial when someone attempts to access invalid domains instead of simply returning nothing or false positive results associated with typosquatting practices. It is like those often seen employed in email phishing schemes directed against unsuspecting victims online.

Conclusion

The conclusion of this blog about DNSSEC is simple: it’s essential for online security and privacy. DNSSEC provides an additional layer of authentication that prevents malicious actors from hijacking or tampering with your data, ensuring a secure connection to the websites and services you use daily. Furthermore, using advanced cryptographic algorithms, DNSSEC helps protect individuals and organizations against identity theft, fraud, and other cyber attacks. With its growing popularity among web hosts and domain name registrars, now, more than ever, is the perfect time to start taking advantage of this powerful technology!

A record – Why is it important?

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Just like the A is the first letter you learn from the alphabet, the A record will be the first DNS record you learn from the DNS. It is one of the first records that you create after creating a DNS zone, and it has a fundamental purpose. Do you want to know what it is?

What is the A record?

The A record is a DNS record that we can’t live without. Or at least the Internet won’t be possible the way we know it. 

The A comes from the word address, which in this case is an IPv4 address (32-bit address). The A record is a DNS record that point to the IP address of a domain name (hostname).

When you write a domain name into your address bar, the device will search for exactly this record, so you can access the content.

No matter the control panel for managing your DNS, when you open an A record, you will see:

Host/Domain name: The name of your domain, like yourcompany.com.

Type: Here, it will show the type of the record, in this case, A.

Points to: The IPv4 address to where the record is pointing. Example 123.123.123.123.

TTL. The period this record is valid before it needs to be revisited. It can be 3600 or another value in seconds.

You can have more than one A record for the same domain. You can use it for load balancing if you have multiple servers or if you want to direct traffic based on criteria like geolocation or another.

Why is the A record important?

Without A records, we (people) wouldn’t be able to access websites based on their names. We would need to remember all the IP addresses for each site, just like we used to remember the phone numbers in the past. And you can imagine how hard this could be because today, we use not a single site per day but hundreds.

When you are accessing any site on the web, you will need to know where they are located. Therefore, your browser or application needs to read the A record and find the IPv4 corresponding to the hostname you input.

Your device can find it out by performing a DNS query to the hostname for the A record.

When it finds it and reads it, your device will be able to open the site. It will also save the information about the domain name based on the time that the TTL inside the A records indicates. The next time you want to visit the site, the device will first check if the A record is still inside its DNS cache. You can directly access the site without a new DNS query if this is the case.

Conclusion

The A records are the essence of the DNS. They link domain names to their IPv4 addresses. Without them, the use of the Internet will be incredibly difficult and slow. Thanks to them, we can enjoy all the benefits of a fast and agile Internet.