Keeping Your Data Safe through Understanding DNS
Recently, there has been increased focus on DNS security. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis had their data breached because of a DNS vulnerability, and other companies like the Washington Post and New York Times have all suffered because of similar attacks. DNS stands for Domain Name System, and it makes the Internet a more human friendly environment. Originally, they invented DNS so that it could support the growth of email communication on ARPANET.DNS uses alphabetical names and numerical IP addresses that have allowed for each computer to talk with each other. The alphabetical names make it much easier for people to remember over numerical addresses. Because DNS servers do not have a centralized location, even if an attack occurs, the communications will not be disrupted. Another advantage of this system is how no single government or company has the ability to shut down the Internet, and this democratized system has flourished for more than 30 years. The vast majority of cyber attacks that have come from DNS have occurred through authoritative name server out of action and disrupting the IP address. That causes the Internet software to fail, and it makes the domain inaccessible for receiving and sending emails.
While the DNS attacks like the one involving the Federal Reserve in St. Louis have been committed by sophisticated cyber criminals who do not target small businesses, you should still know who maintains your authoritative DNS server. You may want to consider paying for safe DNS services for added security and protection like OpenDNS or Verisign. This provides you with filtering and detection software that reduces the risk of malware from infected content.