Did you know that virtually every router and device on the planet uses Domain Name Servers (DNS)? DNS allows us to use IP addresses like 199.79.62.201 versus having to type in 199.79.62.201 every time we want to visit a website like CPSR. Without DNS, we’d need to memorize an endless list of IP addresses and be unable to communicate with anyone until we did so! For this reason alone, we must maintain control over our DNS servers; since they’re responsible for routing information between computers, they are typically the front-line when it comes to security threats.
The largest threat when it comes to your DNS being hijacked isn’t data theft or censorship; it’s fraud. Because of this, DNS security is incredibly important to maintain. Hackers have been known to redirect users’ searches on Google or Bing for their site that looks exactly the same as the original one where they then try to sell you stuff or steal your passwords. Or sometimes, just by getting you to come to their site first, the malicious website can use browser exploits and vulnerabilities in plugins like Flash or Java to infect your device with malware even if you don’t click on anything on their page. All that’s needed is for you to visit their site.
Luckily, there are several ways to protect yourself from these types of attacks. For example, if you’re using Google Chrome as your browser, enable “Google Smart Lock” in your settings, and it will automatically log you into Google search when you start typing its URL. This way, even if a hacker somehow manages to redirect you away from the real site, they can’t trick the browser into thinking that the fake one is Google Search because it fails the 2-factor authentication.
DNS security is also important if you have any kind of public-facing website where visitors don’t need to enter usernames or passwords to read the basic information on your site. For example, if someone were to change your DNS records to send users to a fake website, you would have no way of knowing about it. For this reason, it’s always important to add an extra layer of security when you’re in control of your DNS entries by having the option to require passwords for all changes made to your account.
If you want to learn more about how DNS works and how to keep yourself safe from hackers and scammers when using the internet, there is much information available online
