dns servers

Survey: One in four DNS servers still vulnerable to Kaminsky hack

Paul Mah — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 05:09:14 -0500

A survey by Infoblox shows that a staggering 10 percent of DNS servers, or one in ten, are still vulnerable to the cache-poisoning hack discovered by security researcher Dan Kaminsky. Another 1.3 million nameservers are shown to be trivially vulnerable. Article

DNS attacks are draining corporate IT coffers

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 20:01:38 -0400

Attacks on companies' Domain Name System (DNS) servers are causing CIOs to spend a considerable amount of time and money to deploy complex security measures to keep their sites protected from malicious attackers. And according to NetworkWorld, despite this investment, companies are still vulnerable. In a study of 465 IT and business professionals, more than half the respondents reported having fallen victim to some form of malware attack. Over a third were hit by a denial-of-service (DoS) attack, and more than 44 percent had experienced a pharming or cache-poisoning attack. External and internal DNS servers were equally vulnerable: Both types succumbed to attacks with roughly the same frequency, according to the study by Mazerov Research and Consulting. A DNS server compromised by a hacker could be used to funnel Web surfers to all sorts of phishing attacks and malicious Web sites, and in some cases could even cause havoc with directory services and email.

For more on DNS attacks:
- check out this Network World article

Simplifying IP management

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 20:01:38 -0400

IP address management (IPAM) can be defined broadly as encompassing three major interrelated functions: IP address inventory, dynamic IP address services management, and IP names services management. Each of these functions is critical to the proper operation of an IP network. Effective IP management requires proper allocation of address space so that there's adequate address capacity where and when it's needed, accurate configuration of DHCP servers for dynamic address users, including differentiation of employees versus "guests", and accurate configuration of DNS servers so resources can be accessed easily. Best practices for IP inventory management include tracking inventory address space in a centralized database, rigorously recording allocations and periodically reconciling actual IP-related data from the network with the inventory database, performing and tracking address space allocations in accordance with routing topology to model and optimize route aggregation.

Learn more about best practices for IP management:
- read the white paper at ComputerWorld

Florida nabs botnet operator

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 20:01:38 -0400

Florida law enforcement has nabbed a botnet operator who targeted Akamai, a Web cache provider, hitting the company's DNS servers with a forceful denial of service attack. The incident knocked many Akamai clients' Web sites off line. Florida officials allege that the 32-year-old used a Gabot email worm to pull PCs into his botnet army.

For more on the botnet operator arrest:
- read the news at News.com

DNS vulnerabilities pose security concerns

Wed, 26 Apr 2006 20:01:39 -0400

Today's DNS servers are at risk, according to U.K. researchers, due to software flaws creating vulnerabilities that can crash the Internet support system or provide hackers access to connected systems. The news come through an advisory from the U.K. National Infrastructure Security Co-ordination Center. While the vulnerabilities are not being termed "high risk," there have been some denial-of-service attacks in which DNS servers were used. Vendors big and small are reviewing whether their products could be impacted by the flaws.

For more on the DNS vulnerability alert:
- read this NetworkWorld article