The Dangers of DNS Spoofing: How to Stay Safe?

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For those looking to safeguard their data and information, DNS spoofing is a potential threat to keep on top of. DNS spoofing involves exploiting the Domain Name System (DNS) vulnerabilities for malicious purposes. Keep reading to learn more about how it works and the best practices for staying safe from this attack.

Definition of DNS Spoofing

DNS Spoofing, or DNS cache poisoning, is a type of cyber attack in which a malicious actor targets the Domain Name System (DNS). This is done by exploiting vulnerabilities in how DNS queries get answered, allowing the hacker to change the website, email, or IP address information in the DNS translation table. This process enables the hacker to redirect users to illegitimate websites where sensitive credentials and data may be stolen. It can also redirect users away from legitimate websites, disrupting communications between the user, website, and server. The severity of the attack can vary, ranging from website defacement and the theft of sensitive data to denial-of-service and malware attacks. As such, it is vital to understand the basics of DNS spoofing and how to guard against it.

How Does it Operate?

DNS spoofing typically begins with a DNS query. When a user enters a website address in their internet browser, the DNS query is sent to a DNS server to locate the corresponding IP address of the website. An attacker can exploit this DNS query to inject fake information into the DNS cache or ‘poison’ it by sending forged response records. This allows the attacker to deceive the DNS server into sending them to a malicious website instead of a legitimate one. DNS cache poisoning can be conducted in two ways – a man-in-the-middle attack where the hacker inserts their data into the existing DNS query sent by the user, or a DNS cache-poisoning attack where the hacker directly sends bogus information to the DNS server. 

By ‘spoofing’ the DNS information, the attacker can create a false sense of trust and make users believe they are accessing a legitimate website when, in fact, they are visiting a malicious website. This type of attack can be used to carry out various malicious activities, from website defacement and the theft of sensitive data to denial-of-service and malware attacks. That’s why organizations and individuals need to understand how DNS spoofing works and how they can protect themselves from it.

Protection Measures Against DNS Spoofing

One of the most effective protection measures against DNS spoofing is to deploy a reliable DNS service. An example of that is Premium DNS. It uses multiple high-speed DNS servers with a vast Anycast DNS network of locations for exceptional performance and reliability. In addition, this Premium DNS will provide you with additional security features like a DNS firewall and anti-DDoS protection. 

DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions) is another DNS service that protects networks against DNS spoofing. It adds an extra layer of authentication to the DNS query/response process using public key cryptography. It verifies the originality of the DNS data and ensures that the correct server is responding. 

Businesses and website owners can also deploy a Monitoring service to ensure the authenticity of the DNS data they are receiving. And finally, running a Dynamic DNS service can help monitor the DNS traffic to spot any unlawful activity. If users notice any suspicious activity, they can immediately update their DNS configuration and reroute the traffic to the proper server (proxy servers, mail servers, web servers, application servers, etc.).

Conclusion

DNS spoofing is a standard cyber attack that can have serious consequences. Therefore, it is vital to understand how DNS cache poisoning works and deploy the necessary measures to stay safe from it. Premium DNS, DNSSEC, and Monitoring services are just a few steps organizations and individuals can take to protect their data and information from a DNS spoofing attack.

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.