Beware of DNS cache poisoning

(14/10/2008)

First Cyber Security is warning companies to watch out for a rapidly increasing internet security threat known as poisoned DNS caches.

"The problem", says David Holman, the firm's director, "came to prominence in July when CERT - the Computer Emergency Response Team - issued an advisory on DNS cache poisoning, noting that it can fool users into inadvertently giving away personal details on the internet and can also trigger malware infections and email problems."

"Every user on the Internet, from tier one ISPs down to the simple home user, relies on domain name lookup tables, which translate a given domain name into the relevant numeric IP address", he said.

"With DNS cache poisoning, DNS lookup tables are corrupted and the numeric IP addresses of fake web pages are inserted in place of the real addresses for popular sites. Then, when a user types in a correct URL they are routed to the false page, instead of the real one" he added. "From then on, any details they enter such as usernames and passwords can be captured by third parties and used as part of internet fraud including identity theft."

"Solving the problem is not going to be easy for the IT security industry," says Holman, "as conventional IT security systems and software can find it difficult to protect against the problem effectively."

“The average computer user is not an IT specialist, and shouldn’t need to be to use the internet safely” added Holman. First Cyber Security provides consumer facing independent web site validation designed specifically to protect against this threat.

Related topics:  Internet and Web security 

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