Misconceptions

Many people and businesses are increasingly becoming aware of the huge role that DNS plays when it comes to web security. However, the main problem with DNS servers is the lack of proper information about it. Many people get information about DNS security from vendors who are trying to sell them their services.

As a result, this has led to a number of misconceptions which are still regarded as truths by some people.

Here are 3 popular misconceptions about DNS that you should shun from.

DNS Proactively Protects My Entire IT Environment And Detects Incoming Threats

We list this as a misconception because DNS servers can only protect your IT environment from external attacks that are being propagated via your DNS server. Whenever hackers realise that are facing a challenge while trying to access your environment via DNS, they usually resort to the use of IP addresses. DNS can’t be able to detect this. This means that they can use malicious code directly through your IP address without being bogged down by your DNS’s security.

However, this doesn’t mean that you should not trust DNS servers for your work environment. Most hacking attempts occur via DNS servers. This means that securing your DNS server should still remain as a priority (especially for businesses). You should also make use of other alternate technologies like Unified Threat Management (UTM) as well as proxy level filtering to secure your entire IT environment.

Higher Number Of Queries Served Out Equals To A High Performing DNS Server

Many people also assume that the number of queries that a DNS server can serve out is an indication of how safe and secure it is and that it will virtually protect you from having any down times on your server. The reality is that, any malicious person who wants to bog down your DNS server can do so by serving out millions of queries to your DNS which will saturate your bitpipe (regardless of the number of queries that your DNS server can serve out).

Note: Realistically, it’s hard to get such high numbers of queries remotely.

This means that you don’t need to look for DNS servers that perform a high number of queries per second. Even large service providers don’t get as much as 50,000 queries on the servers (on a per second analysis).

Service Quality Is Determined By A High Performing Server

Many people also assume that high performing servers lead to a higher quality of service. There are very many instances where this does not apply. For example, if your servers are located far from the location where your clients are, then they will still experience slow internet problems. A better solution to this is by investing in a large number virtual DNS servers scattered around.

By doing so, you will be able to bring your server closer to your customers and in the process reduce latency which is an important factor as far as your DNS quality is concerned.

Check out the role of DNS in your business.