DNS Security Solutions and Your Brand

DNS Security Solutions And Your BrandHow much do you trust a firm once you learn it was the victim of ransomware, data exposure, downtime from a DDoS attack, or some other network breach? If you are like millions of others, you just don’t believe in such firms or sites afterward. That is why you need to consider the longevity and strength of your brand in the face of modern security threats, and implement DNS security solutions that do their best to protect it.

What Can You Do?

We already mentioned DNS security solutions, so let us continue along that thread. In the world of online threats, it seems that DNS has become a popular target for exploits. This is partly due to the rise of IoT or the Internet of Things. These devices are often left unsecured, then infected with malware and turned into an army that floods DNS services and leave their global clients unavailable.

Of course, attacks can also source from within through such activities as torrent and file sharing, adult website visits and other (often prohibited) behaviours. Ideal DNS security solutions would address all of these things through proper monitoring and defence. For example, advanced malware protection, easy to use cloud security solutions, and advanced DNS protection could implement the following actions:

Network policy enforcement – It may seem extreme to create pre-emptive blocks, but your brand’s reputation is worth far more than a few employees feeling annoyed that you cannot just trust them to follow policy. Optimized solutions are able to create effective blocks for tagged traffic patterns, preventing disasters from striking with a single click.

Network protection – Real time protection is nearly impossible to overemphasize, and particularly where DNS security is concerned. When built in a layered design, it will allow you to know that any malicious activity or malware in the system will be identified before it can wreak havoc. A solid solution incorporates botnet, APT and malware or ransomware protections.

Network management – Proper defence of the DNS and network is impossible without the clarity of network assessment and evaluation. Where are your vulnerabilities? Where is there wasted bandwidth? What is the nature of the traffic? It is only through clear data that you are able to make informed decisions about the nature of threats inside or outside of the network.

This is a system of defence that will only enhance your brand. While more and more threats appear, and more and more global names (think Airbnb, PayPal and Sony) are threatened by breaches and botnets, you can easily implement DNS security solutions when you turn to the qualified experts.

Your DNS and IoT Vulnerabilities

Your DNS and IoT VulnerabilitiesAre you properly defended? In the sense of your computer and network safety, do you feel you have a good defence in depth strategy? This is not something to take lightly, and if you wish to truthfully answer yes, you have to be sure you have defences such as a DNS firewall, advanced malware protection, cloud security solutions, and more. Let us take a moment to understand just why this is important to anyone online.

Consider this – the source code for the Mirai botnet was shared online in late 2016. This is a form of malware that converts networked IoT devices into remote controlled bots. These are then used in enormous numbers to perform network attacks at an astonishing scale. In fact, the Mirai botnet actually knocked the entire nation of Liberia offline.

Once the Mirai botnet was shared, though, it split many times over, and now there are multiple Mirai derivatives at work. While you may not yet know what that means to you in terms of security, it is safe to say that you do not want to become victim to it – whether as a business owner or consumer.

To understand why a strong DNS firewall, real time malware protection, and internet security services are important, we need to look at what happened when the Mirai botnet set to work in October of 2016.

Mirai at Work

When the malware had infected enough machines, it attacked and disrupted websites as famous as Airbnb, PayPal, Spotify and the PlayStation network. It did this by taking over IoT (Internet of Things) devices like baby monitors, CCTV systems, DVRs and routers. Though you may not think that the processing power of your CCTV system would amount to much, imagine millions of devices pooling their resources…this is how the Mirai botnet (and many other botnets) operate.

What did it use the power for? It performed a DDoS or distributed denial of service attack that flooded the systems at a firm known as Dyn, a cloud DNS provider. While IT experts are consistently advising against online businesses relying strictly on a single DNS provider in order to ensure accessibility even when under an attack, there are steps that you can take directly to protect yourself.

Considering Real Time Solutions

A DNS firewall is easily one of the strongest ways to overcome the risk of IoT vulnerability, botnets, malware and other threats. It will prevent system connections to known or recognized malicious locations. However, it can also make you aware of the presence of botnets within, or threatening, your network. Because the availability of your website (which is your business) is linked to the availability of your network, you have no real choice but to find ways to implement DNS security solutions. It is the availability of those DNS services that make you reachable, and the botnet attacks are directly targeting this accessibility.
Until IoT devices and other vulnerabilities that plague the Internet are remedied, it is best to find options for a DNS firewall, DNS security solutions, advanced malware protection and other cloud security solutions.