The Domain Name System (DNS) is a vital component of the internet infrastructure, facilitating communication by translating human-readable domain names into machine-readable IP addresses. Despite its ubiquitous use and reliance by millions of internet users daily, many remain unaware of its inner workings.
However, precisely because of its critical role, DNS communication plays a part in most cyberattack at some step of a killchain. Unfortunately, due to a lack of understanding of DNS operations, many organisations overlook the importance of securing and monitoring their DNS traffic. This oversight leaves them vulnerable to various malicious activities orchestrated by attackers.
These attacks range from compromising an organisation's security perimeter to distributing malware like ransomware and facilitating phishing and malspam campaigns using malicious domains. The ramifications of DNS attacks can be severe, including financial losses, data breaches, reputation damage, website downtime, and widespread malware infections.
Role of CERTFin
To address these threats, CERTFin proudly participates in DNS4EU, an initiative spearheaded by the European Commission. The primary objective of DNS4EU is to offer a European DNS resolver as a reliable alternative to existing public DNS resolvers while prioritising security, privacy compliance, and performance.
One of the key contributions of CERTFin and other European CERTs to DNS4EU is providing DNS cyber threat intelligence. This involves the collection, analysis, and sharing of information related to malicious domains, IP addresses, and DNS queries associated with cyber threats. By leveraging this intelligence, organisations and citizens are safer from cyber attacks, for example preventing data exfiltration and mitigating the risk of banking fraud.
In summary, DNS threats pose significant risks that should not be underestimated. It is imperative to implement robust cybersecurity measures, including rigorous threat intelligence processes like those implemented in DNS4EU. By doing so, we can create a centralised platform to combat DNS threats effectively, benefiting millions of individuals and organisations across Europe.
This blog post was written by CERTFin (ABILAB). ABILAB is a member of the DNS4EU consortium.
