Encrypting DNS traffic using DNS over TLS

Secure your DNS traffic and prevent eavesdropping for a reliable and secure DNS resolution

TCPWAVE

Elevate your security and safeguard your digital footprints.

The Domain Name System (DNS) was created without serious consideration of security, leaving it vulnerable to various types of malicious attacks such as DNS spoofing, DNS tunneling, DNS hijacking, DNS flood attacks, and more. To address these issues, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) published several Requests For Enhancements (RFEs), including DNSSEC and Response Policy Zones (RPZ) / DNS Firewall. In addition to DNSSEC and RPZ/DNS Firewall, DNS over TLS (DoT) and DNS over HTTPS (DoH) have been adopted by several organizations to enhance digital privacy and security. In this article, we will discuss DNS over TLS and how it can be implemented in TCPWave IPAM.

Enhanced Digital Privacy

Enhanced Digital Privacy

  • DNS over TLS (DoT) encrypts DNS traffic, providing an additional layer of security to prevent eavesdropping and unauthorized access, improving digital privacy and security.
Prevents DNS Attacks

Prevents DNS Attacks

  • DoT helps prevent DNS attacks, such as DNS spoofing, cache poisoning, and DNS hijacking, ensuring a safe and reliable DNS resolution process.
Improved Customer Trust

Improved Customer Trust

  • Implementing DoT demonstrates a commitment to digital privacy and security, improving customer trust and brand reputation.
Reliable DNS Resolution

Reliable DNS Resolution

  • By encrypting DNS traffic and preventing DNS attacks, DoT ensures a reliable DNS resolution process, leading to enhanced business continuity and productivity.
IPAM
Enhanced Security: Safeguarding DNS Traffic with DNS over TLS Encryption

DNS traffic sent over the standard UDP or TCP port 53 is not encrypted, making it vulnerable to attacks and vulnerabilities. DNS over TLS provides a solution to this problem by encrypting DNS traffic using Transport Layer Security (TLS) on TCP connections. To use DNS over TLS, the DNS client must establish a TCP connection to port 853 on the server, unless there is a mutual agreement to use a different port. Once the connection is established, the client initiates a TLS handshake and authenticates the server, if required. After the negotiation is complete, the connection is encrypted and protected from eavesdropping.

Optimizing Network Performance: Considerations for DNS over TLS in TCPWave Solution

In the TCPWave solution, DNS over TLS incurs additional latency due to establishing a secure TCP connection, and it requires increased processing power due to the usage of TLS algorithms for encryption. Clients should use a limited number of TCP connections to minimize this challenge. There are known attacks on TLS, such as man-in-the-middle and protocol downgrade attacks. DNS clients keeping track of servers known to support TLS enables clients to detect attacks. For servers with no support for TLS and no connection history, clients may choose to try another server when available, continue without TLS support, or refuse to forward the query.

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IPAM
Reinforcing DNS Security: Protecting Data with TCPWave's DNS over TLS

Our DNS over TLS (DoT) provides significant security improvements by encrypting DNS traffic, ensuring that it is protected against eavesdropping and unauthorized access. With DoT, all DNS queries and responses are sent over a secure TLS connection, preventing attackers from intercepting and reading DNS traffic. This ensures that DNS traffic is protected, and the confidentiality and integrity of DNS data are maintained. DNS over TLS also prevents DNS cache poisoning attacks. With cache poisoning, an attacker can insert false data into a DNS cache, causing the resolver to return incorrect data when queried. By encrypting DNS traffic, DoT ensures that the DNS records being accessed belong to the actual domain name being queried, making it impossible for attackers to manipulate the DNS cache with false data.

Improved Security and Authenticity: TCPWave's DNS over TLS with Server Authentication

In addition, TCPWave's implementation of DoT also provides advanced security features such as server authentication. By authenticating the server, DNS clients can ensure that the server they are connecting to is the actual server that they intended to connect to, preventing man-in-the-middle attacks. The use of server authentication provides an additional layer of security, ensuring that the DNS resolution process is secure and reliable. TCPWave DNS appliances support DNS over TLS to enhance digital privacy and security. To learn more about this feature and its implementation, contact the TCPWave Sales Team for a quick demo.

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In conclusion, TCPWave's DNS over TLS (DoT) enhances DNS security with encrypted traffic, preventing eavesdropping and DNS attacks. It improves digital privacy, reliability, and brand reputation, gaining customer trust. Our DoT implementation includes server authentication for added security against man-in-the-middle attacks. Trust TCPWave for optimized network performance and robust DNS protection.