DNS security for foiling data exfiltration
Alvin Rodrigues, Infoblox’s Field Chief Security Officer has some interesting perspectives about remote work and accompanying DNS security measures. Having spent time speaking to business and technology decision makers, Alvin observed how digital initiatives have literally accelerated because of the current pandemic.
But he also noted, this has to come with commensurate DNS security measures.
“There is a McKinsey study that shows many of the digital initiatives a company had, was already scheduled to be completed in 18 to 24 months. This was compressed and completed in less than 30 days,” he said.
A simple example is work from home (WFH) initiatives.
“If memory serves me correctly, it used to be an initiative that is close to one and half years. Right now with COVID, companies that McKinsey interviewed, executed in less than 10 days,” Alvin shared.
The situation right now
Alvin noted upsides to the urgency that the pandemic had invoked.
There was a period of needing to acclimatise to the sudden situation many businesses the world over were suddenly thrust into. There was a learning curve and businesses now know more or less, what to expect.
Initiatives launched at the beginning of the pandemic are being rationalised, and Alvin observed that services being delivered on the digital platform, continue to rise because of the benefits.
Above all, consumers are now ready to embrace digital platforms, and consume from digital platforms.
There is also greater remote collaboration and greater remote communications, as teams in different locations still needed to work together.
“So, these were some of the key transformation that saw – workforce management is changing and the way organisations are structuring the way that they manage the business, is also changing.”
There is also greater remote collaboration and greater remote communications, as teams in different locations still needed to work together.
Doing business digitally… and remotely
DNS security has a big role to play.
The outcome of the pandemic, is a massive shift from business networks to home networks. Alvin explained, “Let’s put things into contrast a bit. Remote work is not a new concept. It’s something many multinational companies also have.
“But, it’s the percentage of remote working that has changed drastically.”
Now, we are looking at this 20-percent of the workforce possibly transitioning to as much as 80-percent of the workforce, working remotely.
“Companies are not comfortable with this, because now you have people operating on unsecured platforms like home routers and home broadband, and connecting to very sensitive customer information,” Alvin pointed out.
Now, we are looking at this 20-percent of the workforce possibly transitioning to as much as 80-percent of the workforce, working remotely.
To exacerbate the matter, hackers have clued in to this ‘migration’ to remote and home networks. Cyberattack events are on the rise, as a result.
How is Infoblox going to enable remote work?
Infoblox has the ability to look at the environment from a DDI perspective. DDI refers to the integration of DNS (domain name system), DHCP (dynamic host configuration protocol), and IPAM (IP address management)
Alvin explained, “I can give you the story of all the different devices on the network, and then map into a SASE or secured access, service edge (framework).
There are more users and their devices logging onto the network, with the average user connecting 6.6 devices at any one time. That is 6.6 vectors or avenues for a hacker to get onto his platform to infiltrate his organisation.
“So, this is where we take a conscientious look and see how do we secure his environment, and his connections back to the company.”
Being able to see workloads and where they are happening in the environment, also enables capacity planning, which in turn can ensure availability and uptime of services.
“That kind of visibility, that hindsight, drives discussion to actually become very programmatic in the way that one manages their business,” Alvin said.
Being able to see workloads and where they are happening in the environment, also enables capacity planning, which in turn can ensure availability and uptime of services.
DNS Security
According to Alvin, there are very few vendors in the marketplace now that are very focused on the DNS platform and protecting it. A majority of attention is upon security other parts of an organisation’s infrastructure.
“Infoblox is very focused on the DNS platform, and that’s why from our DDI expertise and solutions, we expanded into threat defense.”
“It’s only around now that we see people starting to pay attention to (DNS security) because of the immense amount of data exfiltration that’s taking place,” Alvin noted in conclusion.
Even the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has mentioned DNS security in their latest Technology Risk Management (TRM) guidelines.
That said, there could be more initiative and emphasis from the cybersecurity industry, from governments and from other industry regulatory bodies like MAS.