The DNS tunnel: the channel for data leakage

Without the DNS service, surfing the Internet would simply be impossible, as it acts as an intermediary to facilitate and enable surfing. However, malware attacks take advantage of the flexibility of the channel to carry out exfiltration and data theft operations. The present article presents the fact with a detailed explanation.

What is DNS?

In order to access a website, under normal circumstances, you need to know the IP address of the server on which it is hosted, something however impossible for humans to keep track of. More information on the link https://www.tips-of-the-day.com/. Indeed, the DNS plays the role of intermediary or mediator in order to convert the domain name entered by the user into an IP address. As this step is important for accessing the site, companies leave their firewalls open to allow the result of the page to be automatically forwarded to the user. And that's exactly where malware comes in to grab a big pile of data.

How does DNS tunneling work?

The operation is done in two distinct directions and it is right in the middle of both that the malware is put in order to do all the information gathering. Thus, the DNS tunnel uses DNS queries to create a neat line of commands and controls for the benefit of the malware. The incoming DNS traffic sends the command protocols to the malware while the outgoing one can now easily retrieve the data and send it to the malware builder who will use it for his own purposes. The DNS tunnel is therefore the channel for the transfer of a large amount of information that is supposed to be secret because of its organised architecture.

Protecting yourself from DNS tunnel attacks

To achieve this, a highly reinforced system specialised in preventing all types of threats is needed to stop and interrupt data exfiltration operations. Thus, a next-generation, state-of-the-art firewall is perfect for fighting this type of war to victory.