Get familiar with DNS spoofing

Are you tired of having your data stolen and your browsing activities tracked? DNS spoofing is a common cyberattack method used to redirect your web traffic away from the secure websites you intend to visit. In this blog post, we’ll cover what DNS spoofing is, who uses it, and how to protect yourself from this type of malicious attack. With the right information and a few simple steps, you can keep your security intact while you surf the web. So let’s get started and learn how to protect yourself from DNS spoofing!

What does the term “DNS spoofing” mean?

DNS spoofing, also known as DNS cache poisoning, is a type of phishing and cyber attack. It uses the DNS servers to provide your web browser with the incorrect IP address and direct you to a fraudulent website rather than the one you intended to visit. This leads to DNS queries returning false positives, which frequently guide users away from trustworthy websites and toward dangerous ones intended to steal personal data or spread malware.

The fact that DNS was developed in the 1980s, when the Internet was much smaller, and security was not a top priority, is the main reason DNS spoofing is possible. As a result, DNS resolvers need an internal mechanism to check the accuracy of the information they store, and inaccurate DNS information may persist until the Time to Live (TTL) expires or is manually updated.

Who use it?

To intercept sensitive user data, attackers utilize DNS spoofing in phishing and pharming attacks. By tricking the victim into thinking they are on a trustworthy website, DNS spoofing exploits their trust to infect their own machine with malware.

Additionally, legitimate businesses use DNS spoofing on occasion. For example, it has been used by some internet service providers (ISPs) to enforce censorship and for advertising purposes.

How to protect against DNS spoofing?

Encrypt your data. Encryption is an excellent method for protecting DNS data (queries and responses). Criminals who want to spoof will be unable to forge a copy of the legitimate website’s security certificate.
Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC). It verifies the authenticity of data using DNS records. DNSSEC ensures the authenticity of DNS lookups in this manner.
Users must also consider some preventive measures to avoid making the attackers’ jobs more manageable. They are, after all, the primary target of this type of criminal activity.
Concentrate on detection. Software tools are available (Monitoring service) for scanning the data received as a final step.

The users of this unlawful activity are the primary targets. They must therefore take some safety measures as well.

VPN (Virtual Private Network). The dangers of connecting to public networks are more significant. To safely engage with servers and communicate with domains, use a VPN.
Strange links. Avoid mindlessly clicking on dubious URLs. Such links originate from unidentified senders and are typically included in the spam or social media messages. Users can protect their data by not clicking on them.
DNS cache. DNS data from frequently visited sites is saved for a period of time (with their IPv4 or Ipv6 addresses). As a result, it is possible that the spoofed device is no longer the server. To avoid being directed to fake websites by the browser, it is a good idea to clean the DNS cache on a regular basis.

Conclusion

Attackers will frequently seek to exploit a few signals, weak points, and data points. They detect DNS queries that have not yet been cached because the recursive server must perform the query at some point. But nevertheless, there can be protection from these malicious actions. These are, for example, the various protection software (DNSSEC, Monitoring service, VPN, etc.) or preventive measures (encrypting your data, deleting the DNS cache, etc.).

Get familiar with DNS spoofing