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Minimizing Information Leakage in the DNS

Published

Author(s)

Scott W. Rose, Anastase Nakassis

Abstract

The Domain Name System (DNS) is the global lookup service for network resources. To protect DNS information, the DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) has been developed and deployed on branches of the DNS to provide authentication and integrity protection using digital signatures. However, signed DNS nodes have been found to have an unfortunate side effect: an attacker can query them as reconnaissance before attacking hosts on a particular network. There are different ways a zone administrator can minimize information leakage while still taking advantage of DNSSEC for integrity and source authentication. This paper describes the risk and examines the protocol and operation options and looks at their advantages and drawbacks.
Citation
Journal of Research (NIST JRES) -
Volume
22

Keywords

DNS, DNSSEC, Secure Hash

Citation

Rose, S. and Nakassis, A. (2008), Minimizing Information Leakage in the DNS, Journal of Research (NIST JRES), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=51324 (Accessed April 25, 2024)
Created March 1, 2008, Updated February 19, 2017