DNSSEC - Secure DNS for Government Bluecat's Public Sector Practice

Executive Summary

DNS is a pivotal component of every network. Without it, critical business services like email, web access and many other applications cannot function. Given the prevalence of DNS on the Internet, it is essential to ensure the security of DNS services. A vulnerable DNS server could be an entry point for hackers that could leave an organization without DNS services or even worse, have their DNS servers compromised causing DNS requests to be redirected to malicious and dangerous sites. With recent DNS exploits, like the one discovered by Dan Kaminsky, which was covered by almost every major news publication, organizations need to be more concerned with keeping their DNS systems secure.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology [NIST] has documented a set of recommendations that outline the risks associated with DNS and steps to secure against them.

The deployment guidelines for secure DNS, as outlined by NIST, consist of a set of generic and DNS-specific recommendations for:

• Securing the DNS hosting environment
• Protecting DNS transactions
• DNS security administration

This document examines the standards and guidelines outlined by NIST and shows how BlueCat Network’s DNS solution can address these guidelines.