Last week, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) decided to call for the full deployment of the Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) across all unsecured domain names. ICANN took this decision because of the increasing reports of malicious activity targeting the DNS infrastructure.
According to ICANN, there is an ongoing and significant risk to key parts of the Domain Name System (DNS) infrastructure. The DNS that converts numerical internet addresses to domain names, has been the victim of various attacks by the use of different methodologies.
#ICANN says there is “an ongoing and significant risk to the Internet” and urges full deployment of DNSSEC. Read the announcement here >> https://t.co/XbNr89GjO6
— ICANN (@ICANN) February 22, 2019
Last month security company FireEye revealed that hackers associated with Iran were hijacking DNS records, by rerouting users from a legitimate web address to a malicious server in order to steal passwords. This “DNSpionage” campaign, was targeting governments in the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon. The Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency had warned that U.S. agencies were also under attack. In its first emergency order amid a government shutdown, the agency ordered federal agencies to take action against DNS tampering.
David Conrad, ICANN’s chief technology officer told the AFP news agency that the hackers are “going after the Internet infrastructure itself.”
ICANN is urging domain owners for deploying DNSSEC, which is a more secure version of DNS and is difficult to manipulate. DNSSEC cryptographically signs data which makes it more difficult to be spoofed. Some of the attacks target the DNS where the addresses of intended servers are changed with addresses of machines controlled by the attackers. This type of attack that targets the DNS only works when DNSSEC is not in use.
ICANN also reaffirms its commitment towards engaging in collaborative efforts for ensuring the security, stability, and resiliency of the internet’s global identifier systems.
This month, ICANN offered a checklist of recommended security precautions for members of the domain name industry, registries, registrars, resellers, and related others, to proactively take steps to protect their systems.
ICANN aims to assure that internet users reach their desired online destination by preventing “man in the middle” attacks where a user is unknowingly re-directed to a potentially malicious site.
Few users have previously been a victim of DNS hijacking and think that this move won’t help them out. One user commented on HackerNews, “This is nonsense, and possibly crossing the border from ignorant nonsense to malicious nonsense.” Another user said, “There is in fact very little evidence that we “need” the authentication provided by DNSSEC.” Few others think that this might work as a good solution. A comment reads, “DNSSEC is quite famously a solution in search of a problem.”
To know more about this news, check out ICANN’s official post.
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