DNS Sinking (DNS Sinkholing) is a crucial cybersecurity technique used to redirect malicious or unwanted traffic to a controlled IP address, effectively neutralizing threats and preventing harm.
Understanding DNS Sinking
- Domain Name System (DNS): DNS translates human-readable domain names into IP addresses that computers use to communicate.
- DNS Sinkhole: It’s a DNS server configured to give false responses to DNS queries for malicious domains, redirecting them to a “sinkhole” IP address.
How does DNS Sinking work?
- Security teams compile a list of known malicious domains that are used for phishing, malware distribution, and more.
- Then set up a DNS server to respond to queries for these domains with a specific IP address (the sinkhole).
- When a user or device tries to access a malicious domain, the DNS sinkhole redirects the request to a safe IP address, effectively blocking access to the malicious site.
Use cases for DNS Sinking
- Blocking malware, preventing devices on a network from communicating with C2 servers used by malware.
- Preventing phishing attacks, blocking access to phishing websites by redirecting requests to non-malicious IPs.
Importance of DNS Sinking
- Acts as a proactive measure to block threats before they can impact systems.
- Shields users and devices within a network from accessing harmful domains.
- Threat Intelligence, providing valuable data on attempted access to malicious sites, helping to improve overall security posture.
