An Infoblox report in collaboration with Forrester Consulting shows that the vast majority of security officers in organizations consider DNS as a useful mechanism to detect and block security threats early, identify potentially dangerous devices, and analyze and respond to threats. malware.

However, the Accelerate Threat Resolution With DNS report, which has been carried out through surveys of 203 senior managers of security and risk management of large corporations, also reveals that despite this, companies underuse the investments made in DNS management in your cybersecurity strategies.

The main conclusions included in this report, based on the opinions of the cybersecurity professionals interviewed, are the following:

• DNS is an effective but underused tool for threat detection and resolution, even in environments where “alert fatigue” occurs, that is, when there is a risk that controls will relax due to overproduction of security alerts or false positives.
• 94% of those responsible for cyber are currently using or are considering using security mechanisms based on DNS as a starting point to detect threats, but only 43% of them use this mechanism as a source of information to improve the security intelligence of the organization.
• 66% of respondents use Securing DNS to mitigate any threats that exploit vulnerabilities in the DNS system and other security tools fail to do, like DNS / exfiltration of data, tunnels generation algorithms domain (DGA) and other domain attacks. However, only 33% use internal DNS to stop malicious attacks on a large scale.
• 52% of professionals acknowledge the existence of so-called “alert fatigue” in their IT/cybersecurity department. 51% also acknowledge that they have difficulty managing and classifying detected threats, but only 58% of departments have automated processes to respond to them.
• The study was carried out through surveys of security and risk managers of large corporations (with a turnover of more than 1,000 million euros per year) inactivity sectors such as financial services, health, education, retail, and Public Administrations. Respondents belong to high levels of management in companies, senior executives (48%), vice presidents (11%), and directors (34%).
• The technical personnel of the security area dedicates an average of 4 hours a day to the detection of incidents. DNS management can help automate some of the most repetitive tasks in the search for threats, freeing up security resources to dedicate them to more complex problems.

It is positive to see that most professionals are aware of the importance of DNS as a tool for detecting and mitigating threats. However, it seems that they are under-utilizing investments made in DNS management. As all IT departments seek to optimize the ROI of their investments, getting more out of DNS will help them do that by providing a single dashboard for threat visibility across the network, from the core to the end. 

The post DNS Is An Underused Tool In Cybersecurity appeared first on Web Updates Daily.

For this reason, today we are going to talk about DNS, which means what it is for and how it can be configured on both an iOS and Android mobile.

What Is DNS And What Is It For?

System Domain Name or DNS is a name resolution system used to know the IP address of the server hosting the domain. In this way each time we put an address in the browser, the DNS is responsible for translating that text into an IP address.

This name resolution system is made up of three agents who are:

• DNS Client: It is the one that is installed on our device and is responsible for making name resolution requests to the DNS server.
• DNS Server: it is in charge of answering the request of the DNS client, that is, it is in charge of answering the request we make when searching the web.
• Authority Zone: they are servers that are responsible for solving a set of specific domains.

In this way, for us to access the web we are looking for, these three agents must be perfectly synchronized and will run in a matter of milliseconds. Therefore, the faster a DNS server is, the faster the process is completed and we will visualize the web more quickly, so it is possible to change this DNS that we have activated by default by other alternatives. 

Among the best known are:

• Cloudflare – 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1
• Google – 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
• OpenDNS Home – 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220
• Alternate DNS – 198.101.242.72 and 23.253.163.53

As an example, we are going to use Cloudflare’s DNS to change the one that comes by default on our mobile. This process is simple and can be done on both an Android and iOS mobile.

How To Set Up A New DNS On Android or IOS

Set Up A New DNS on Android

The first thing we must do is go to the “Settings” of our device and click on “Networks and the Internet”. Next, we go to “WiFi” and press and hold on the name of the network we are using, a menu will appear and select “Modify network”. Now we must click on “Advanced Options” and here in “IP Settings” we must select “Static”.

Now, in section DNS 1 we will write 1.1.1.1 and in section DNS 2 we will put 1.0.0.1 and we will give “Save” the changes

Set Up a New DNS on IOS

To configure DNS in iOS we must go to the “Settings” of the mobile and click on “Wi-Fi “. Next, we will click on the blue “i” that appears to the right of the network to which we are connected and then we will click on “DNS Configuration”. Here we will change the “Automatic” mode to “Manual” and click on “Add server”. Now in primary DNS, we write 1.1.1.1. We press “Add server” again and in secondary DNS we write 1.0.0.1 and we give “Save” the changes.

The post How To Configure A DNS in iOS And Android appeared first on Web Updates Daily.

What is DNS?

When we talk about the term DNS, we are referring to the acronym of Domain Name System in English and, therefore, to the concept of Domain Name Systems that we use every time we connect to the Internet and, thanks to which, we can connect to a web page without having to type a very long IP address.

In this way, when we talk about DNS, we refer to the translation of a numerical (or IP) address in the name of a domain, that is, what we use every day to access the server that hosts a web page in which we interested in browsing.

Within the DNS concept we can distinguish three elements that are going to be key when conducting an Internet search:

• DNS Client: We are talking about the first phase of the search from our personal computer (client) where we carry out a search for a specific address on the web.
• DNS server: They are the ones that answer this connection request from the different clients, either directly or through other servers enabled for it. Its response system is based on a tree structure that we will deal with later. The ultimate goal of our request is that the server we are going to show us its content. Within DNS servers we can find different types: Primary, secondary or slave, local
• Zones of authority: We go into this tree structure and, specifically, we refer to a group of servers that have been assigned the resolution of a certain domain within the webspace (for example .org domains or .com domains). These servers are called TLDs (Top Level Domain). 

How does DNS work?

When explaining the operation of Domain Name Systems (DNS) we must bear in mind that we are talking about an immense tree structure that is activated the moment we type a web address on our computer and that it would include the following steps :

• We type a web address that we want to access our computer
• Our operating system contacts the DNS server to which it requests access to its content. We are talking about the root server.
• This DNS server is directed to the authority area that has the .es domains assigned (in our case) or those that correspond to the extension that we have typed in the web address (TLD).
• The server in charge of this authority area resolves the request and locates the IP address that corresponds to the domain name that we have typed. This response refers to the server on which that particular page is hosted.
• This server that hosts the page we are looking for receives the request we have made and returns the information providing the IP address of the web we want to access.
• Once all this process has taken place, communication is established with this IP address, and the data that allows viewing the content of this address, that is, the content of the web, begins to be exchanged.

This entire process occurs in milliseconds and, in this way, we can access a website and browse its content without having to establish a contact through the numerical code that identifies the IP address. And all this thanks to DNS.

In this process, it must be taken into account that our computer equipment usually stores the web addresses that we usually access.

The post What Is DNS And What Are They For? appeared first on Web Updates Daily.

However, what if you wake up one day, only to find that your VPN service of choice is going through an unfortunate incident? Such as hacking?

What would you do?

A VPN service, as its default, is meant to give you excellent levels of privacy and security, but they are made by humans, for humans – and that makes them easy to crack at certain unfortunate times. Therefore, if you want to be more secure, there are ways you can increase your protection factor – even while using the most secure VPN.

Ways to up your security

Change the protocols you use

The basic of VPNs is always the protocol, which is how the network encrypts incoming and outgoing traffic. That said, there is not just one kind of VPN – there are actually several protocols that are in common use, and the good news is that numerous providers will provide you with a choice that works for you.

In some cases, you will find that the choice is available in the app, while in others it will be an option you can use to configure a third-party VPN tool.

You will notice that the most common protocols are the OpenVPN (an open-source VPN protocol), L2TP/IPsec (protocol for layer 2 tunneling, very secure) and PPTP (an older protocol that is still quite common, though not as safe).

If you happen to be using a flashed VPN router or a mobile device, using L2TP or PPTP is a good choice, since they are easier to configure.  You will also require a username, server name, and password.

However, regardless of the device you use, the OpenVPN option is the best. The reason that makes PPTP unsafe at times is due to its 128-bit encryption. Moreover, the process of authentication and initial connection can sometimes be intercepted by other people, and the information compromised. On the good side though, it is among the fastest protocols as it has the lowest encryption process.

L2TP is usually among the most secure, though the double encryption process makes it quite slow. On the other hand, OpenVPN is a great balance between the two: it has high levels of security, and recovers very quickly from lost connections.

Using the kill switch

There comes a major problem with using VPNs – sometimes the connection will fail. When this happens, the device immediately goes back to the regular internet address you use, which makes you vulnerable (this is referred to as an IP leak). The greater danger here though – you will likely have no idea it even happened.
This is where the kill switch is your best friend. It will make sure that when you suddenly lose the VPN from your connection, it will immediately shut it down, or all the apps that use it.
Certain VPN connection apps will have a kill switch integrated in their design, and it is better for you to enable it.
If the app does not have the feature, then the alternative is a software kill switch, which you can add to all VPNs. They include apps such as VPNetMon, which you configure on the Windows platform to close the selected apps when the VPN dies.

Enable network locks

This is an easy way to ensure secure connections, and works in the same way as a kill switch. When the Wi-Fi and VPN get interruptions, the network lock prevents the device from accessing the internet, until the VPN reconfigures itself. However, you should note that not all VPN service providers have the feature.

Stopping DNS leaking

What is DNS, you may ask?

Well, a DNS, which also means a Domain Net Server, is the service the computer will use to convert a URL into an IP address.

When you connect your network to a VPN, you should be instantly using the VPN service’s secure DNS server. However, sometimes this is not the case, as the device might be using its usual DNS connection when it bypasses the VPN. The result is known as a DNS leak, and any outside forces that are interested in your data can see your activities on the internet.

Certain VPN apps and clients have in-built DNS protection, but you can always check if you are unsure. When conducting the test, the resulting location it should tell you is that you are in the ‘apparent’ VPN location (where the server you chose is), instead of your actual location.

Blocking any leaks of IPv6

Regarding most activities on the internet, we usually rely on version 4 of the internet protocol system =- that means, the one that uses the 4-number IP address. What you may not know is that a version 6 exists, and this will give you many more addresses than the IPv4. A typical computer will support both, though internet providers are still transitioning to the v6.
The thing about the version 6 though – it operates outside of VPN limits; which means that any attacker can use it to figure out who you are. Even though it does not happen frequently, it still does, so the only way to prevent it is disabling the v6. Some VPNs have this ability built-in, but you can also accomplish it manually.

Preventing WebRTC leaks

It is also essential to prevent your network from exposing your IP address unwittingly. The Web Real-Time Communication (WebRTC) is the protocol that enables two devices to broadcast each other’s IP addresses and communicate to each other.
Unfortunately, this will expose your location at times – even when you use a VPN.
The best way to prevent this is using IP testers to note your address both before and after connecting to a VPN – if it is blocking the WebRTC, the IP address should change after connecting to the VPN. You can also use ad blockers as well.

Final thoughts

VPNs will work as a useful layer of added security on top of an antivirus program, and they are always the next step when you want to be conscious about how you use the internet. However, it is important to continue taking measures to keep yourself safe when using them, since they can also experience issues at times.

Also Read: Top Most Common Types Of Cyberattacks

The post Methods You Can Easily Implement To Make your VPN more secure appeared first on Web Updates Daily.