What Types of DNS Attacks Are Most Common

If you haven’t heard of DNS attacks, it’s something to get familiar with. DNS attacks are growing in frequency. In general, a DNS attack is a cyberattack in which vulnerabilities in the Domain Name System are targeted. DNS is an important part of your internet infrastructure, despite its many holes.

What Types of DNS Attacks Are Most Common

Since the DNS is a fundamental part of not only the internet but also your IP network, that means, of course, that it’s mandatory, which is one of the many reasons it’s so appealing from the perspective of attackers. Domain name systems or DNS are complex, and that means there are more creative ways DNS is compromised that may go under the radar.

The following is an overview of what to know about DNS attacks and the particular types that are most prevalent.

Denial-of-Service (DoS) Attacks

A denial-of-service attack is actually a general term to describe DNS attacks.

The most common is a distributed denial-of-service, meaning the attacker’s traffic doesn’t come from a single source.

Instead, a target gets flood from thousands of IP addresses that usually are part of a botnet.

Attackers can find other ways to cause a large amount of network traffic to be directed at DNS servers as well, and then the service isn’t available by network users because of the saturation.

A DDoS attack is different from a DoS attack because a DoS attack uses only one bot and tends to be more localized and does less damage.

Any websites using the server during a DNS flooding attack will likely have traffic interruptions since legitimate requests can’t go through.

Domain Hijacking

This is a type of attack where there are changes made to your DNS servers and domain registrar that direct traffic away from the original servers and to new destinations.

It can happen with an attacker takes advantage of a vulnerability in the domain name registrar system, but it can also happen at the DNS level. At the DNS level, with this type of attack, control of your DNS records is taken over.

When attackers have taken your domain name, they can then do a variety of activities like setting up a fake payment page.

The attacker creates a copy of your website that looks identical to visitors, and then it records their personal information.

Cache Poisoning

DNS cache poisoning is also known as DNS spoofing, and it’s the most common of these types of attacks.

An attacker can put malicious data into your cache, and then users are redirected to another server without knowing it.

During a live cache poisoning attack, the attacker gets legitimate traffic to their servers, and they can then use pages to steal information via phishing techniques.

DNS Tunneling

With a DNS tunneling attack, data of other programs in DNS queries and responses are encoded. The ultimate goal of this type of attack is to let cyber criminals put malware or stolen information into DNS queries. Then, they have an undercover way of communicating that goes undetected by firewalls.

In order for this to work, usually, the system needs external network connectivity.

A hacker also has to take control of a domain and server.

NXDOMAIN Attack

An NXDOMAIN attack is a specific type of flood attack where a high amount of invalid requests are sent to a targeted DNS server. The server then queries the authoritative name server for nonexistent IP addresses, which taxes the resources of both servers.

The attack, if it’s powerful, can mean both servers are overwhelmed.

The result of overwhelmed servers can be slow response times for actual requests or perhaps a stop to the DNS resolution services.

For an internet user, what it means is that if they were to visit a website with an attacked server, they wouldn’t be able to reach it or they’d get delays unless the IP address was already cached.

Phantom Domain Attacks

In the case of a phantom domain attack, a hacker would create a series of domains. These domains would either not respond to requests, or they’d do so very slowly.

Then an attacker would send a lot of requests for the domains to their targeted resolver.

The recursive server’s resources would be taken over, and it would cause a slow down or failure.

For the user, they wouldn’t be able to visit the site as a result of this type of attack.

There are other types of attacks beyond these, making it important that businesses understand more about DNS attacks and vulnerabilities and how to protect against them.

Check the comment section below for additional information, share what you know, or ask a question about this article by leaving a comment below. And, to quickly find answers to your questions, use our search Search engine.

Note: Some of the information in samples on this website may have been impersonated or spoofed.

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Online Threat Alerts Security Tips

Pay the safest way

Credit cards are the safest way to pay for online purchases because you can dispute the charges if you never get the goods or services or if the offer was misrepresented. Federal law limits your liability to $50 if someone makes unauthorized charges to your account, and most credit card issuers will remove them completely if you report the problem promptly.

Guard your personal information

In any transaction you conduct, make sure to check with your state or local consumer protection agency and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to see if the seller, charity, company, or organization is credible. Be especially wary if the entity is unfamiliar to you. Always call the number found on a website’s contact information to make sure the number legitimately belongs to the entity you are dealing with.

Be careful of the information you share

Never give out your codes, passwords or personal information, unless you are sure of who you're dealing with

Know who you’re dealing with

Crooks pretending to be from companies you do business with may call or send an email, claiming they need to verify your personal information. Don’t provide your credit card or bank account number unless you are actually paying for something and know who you are sending payment to. Your social security number should not be necessary unless you are applying for credit. Be especially suspicious if someone claiming to be from a company with whom you have an account asks for information that the business already has.

Check your accounts

Regularly check your account transactions and report any suspicious or unauthorised transactions.

Don’t believe promises of easy money

If someone claims that you can earn money with little or no work, get a loan or credit card even if you have bad credit, or make money on an investment with little or no risk, it’s probably a scam. Oftentimes, offers that seem too good to be true, actually are too good to be true.

Do not open email from people you don’t know

If you are unsure whether an email you received is legitimate, try contacting the sender directly via other means. Do not click on any links in an email unless you are sure it is safe.

Think before you click

If an email or text message looks suspicious, don’t open any attachments or click on the links.

Verify urgent requests or unsolicited emails, messages or phone calls before you respond

If you receive a message or a phone call asking for immediate action and don't know the sender, it could be a phishing message.

Be careful with links and new website addresses

Malicious website addresses may appear almost identical to legitimate sites. Scammers often use a slight variation in spelling or logo to lure you. Malicious links can also come from friends whose email has unknowingly been compromised, so be careful.

Secure your personal information

Before providing any personal information, such as your date of birth, Social Security number, account numbers, and passwords, be sure the website is secure.

Stay informed on the latest cyber threats

Keep yourself up to date on current scams by visiting this website daily.

Use Strong Passwords

Strong passwords are critical to online security.

Keep your software up to date and maintain preventative software programs

Keep all of your software applications up to date on your computers and mobile devices. Install software that provides antivirus, firewall, and email filter services.

Update the operating systems on your electronic devices

Make sure your operating systems (OSs) and applications are up to date on all of your electronic devices. Older and unpatched versions of OSs and software are the target of many hacks. Read the CISA security tip on Understanding Patches and Software Updates for more information.

What if You Got Scammed?

Stop Contact With The Scammer

Hang up the phone. Do not reply to emails, messages, or letters that the scammer sends. Do not make any more payments to the scammer. Beware of additional scammers who may contact you claiming they can help you get your lost money back.

Secure Your Finances

  • Report potentially compromised bank account, credit or debit card information to your financial institution(s) immediately. They may be able to cancel or reverse fraudulent transactions.
  • Notify the three major credit bureaus. They can add a fraud alert to warn potential credit grantors that you may be a victim of identity theft. You may also want to consider placing a free security freeze on your credit report. Doing so prevents lenders and others from accessing your credit report entirely, which will prevent them from extending credit:

Check Your Computer

If your computer was accessed or otherwise affected by a scam, check to make sure that your anti-virus is up-to-date and running and that your system is free of malware and keylogging software. You may also need to seek the help of a computer repair company. Consider utilizing the Better Business Bureau’s website to find a reputable company.

Change Your Account Passwords

Update your bank, credit card, social media, and email account passwords to try to limit further unauthorized access. Make sure to choose strong passwords when changing account passwords.

Report The Scam

Reporting helps protect others. While agencies can’t always track down perpetrators of crimes against scammers, they can utilize the information gathered to record patterns of abuse which may lead to action being taken against a company or industry.

Report your issue to the following agencies based on the nature of the scam:

  • Local Law Enforcement: Consumers are encouraged to report scams to their local police department or sheriff’s office, especially if you lost money or property or had your identity compromised.
  • Federal Trade Commission: Contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357) or use the Online Complaint Assistant to report various types of fraud, including counterfeit checks, lottery or sweepstakes scams, and more.
  • Identitytheft.gov: If someone is using your personal information, like your Social Security, credit card, or bank account number, to open new accounts, make purchases, or get a tax refund, report it at www.identitytheft.gov. This federal government site will also help you create your Identity Theft Report and a personal recovery plan based on your situation. Questions can be directed to 877-ID THEFT.

How To Recognize a Phishing Scam

Scammers use email or text messages to try to steal your passwords, account numbers, or Social Security numbers. If they get that information, they could get access to your email, bank, or other accounts. Or they could sell your information to other scammers. Scammers launch thousands of phishing attacks like these every day — and they’re often successful.

Scammers often update their tactics to keep up with the latest news or trends, but here are some common tactics used in phishing emails or text messages:

Phishing emails and text messages often tell a story to trick you into clicking on a link or opening an attachment. You might get an unexpected email or text message that looks like it’s from a company you know or trust, like a bank or a credit card or utility company. Or maybe it’s from an online payment website or app. The message could be from a scammer, who might

  • say they’ve noticed some suspicious activity or log-in attempts — they haven’t
  • claim there’s a problem with your account or your payment information — there isn’t
  • say you need to confirm some personal or financial information — you don’t
  • include an invoice you don’t recognize — it’s fake
  • want you to click on a link to make a payment — but the link has malware
  • say you’re eligible to register for a government refund — it’s a scam
  • offer a coupon for free stuff — it’s not real

About Online Threat Alerts (OTA)

Online Threat Alerts or OTA is an anti-cybercrime community that started in 2012. OTA alerts the public to cyber crimes and other web threats.

By alerting the public, we have prevented a lot of online users from getting scammed or becoming victims of cybercrimes.

With the ever-increasing number of people going online, it important to have a community like OTA that continuously alerts or protects those same people from cyber-criminals, scammers and hackers, who are every day finding new ways of carrying out their malicious activities.

Online users can help by reporting suspicious or malicious messages or websites to OTA. And, if they want to determine if a message or website is a threat or scam, they can use OTA's search engine to search for the website or parts of the message for information.

Help maintain Online Threat Alerts (OTA).

What Types of DNS Attacks Are Most Common