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Secure Domain Name System (DNS) Deployment Guide

Published

Author(s)

Scott Rose, Cricket Liu, Ross Gibson

Abstract

This document provides Domain Name System (DNS) deployment guidelines to secure the DNS protocol and infrastructure, mitigate misuse or misconfiguration, and provide an additional layer of network security as part of a zero trust and/or defense-in-depth security risk management approach. This introduction briefly discusses relevant context for DNS and examines the changing threat landscape that has warranted an updated approach to DNS deployment.
Citation
Special Publication (NIST SP) - 800-81r3
Report Number
800-81r3

Keywords

Authoritative Name Server, Domain Name sytem (DNS), DNS Logging, DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC), Encrypted DNS, Protective DNS, Recursive Name Server, Resource Record (RR)

Citation

Rose, S. , Liu, C. and Gibson, R. (2026), Secure Domain Name System (DNS) Deployment Guide, Special Publication (NIST SP), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.800-81r3, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=960578 (Accessed March 20, 2026)

Issues

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Created March 19, 2026
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