DNSSEC: How does it protect your network?

DNSSEC is the best way of protecting your Domain Name System. In this article, we will show up why, what the term means, and where you can take advantage of it. So, let’s start.

What is the meaning behind DNSSEC?

The DNSSEC acronym stands for Domain Name System Security Extensions. It’s a collection of diverse security techniques that give DNS data with cryptographic authentication. It shows that the DNS data hasn’t been tampered with, but it doesn’t encrypt the DNS records. Instead, it functions as a trust chain, allowing each step of a query to be verified.

Find out more about the operation of DNSSEC.

Enabling DNSSEC adds weight to the network, which can cause a slight delay. Regular users are unlikely to notice, but you should be aware of it.

Now let’s look at the advantages of DNSSEC deployment.

Why is it beneficial?

DNSSEC’s primary and most significant purpose is to impose limitations on third parties. They wouldn’t be able to tamper with any DNS records this way. DNSSEC can also protect the domain name’s integrity when the following conditions are avoided.

• DNS Cache Poisoning

It’s a form of man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack that’s quite prevalent and widely employed. The criminal’s primary goal in launching this attack is to overwhelm a particular DNS recursive server with bogus DNS data. Therefore, it is not uncommon for the attack to escalate further. This entails creating a bogus end result in the DNS recursive server’s cache memory. The resolver then sends that malicious and false address to every user who requests that specific website. This is valid until the Time-to-Live (TTL) value is reached.

• Created zones 

DNSSEC can protect against DNS attacks that take advantage of the DNS system unfairly, as well as provide simulated results for DNS zones. Malicious actors take advantage of gaps between zones, which may or may not exist. As a result, DNSSEC offers tools to prevent these weaknesses from being exploited and secures the entire zone.

Where can you find DNSSEC?

DNSSEC is not a pre-installed function, and it is not always free.

To begin, you’ll require a domain name that supports it. Although not all TLDs support DNSSEC, most registrars make this information readily available when you purchase a domain.

You may require the services of a managed DNS provider. The rest of the procedure is straightforward. For each zone, you want to secure, enable DNSSEC. Then, get the Delegation Signer record (DS record) and place it in your registrar’s parent zone. In this manner, the trust chain is ready.

Conclusion

To sum it up, security is a priority. Your domain cannot exist online without DNS, however, DNS by itself is not secure. So protect your domain, network, and users by enabling DNSSEC.