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What is NXDOMAIN DDoS Attack? Hidden Threats Behind the DNS Screen

In today's digital era, cyberattacks are growing more complex and diverse. One type of attack that often goes undetected but is very harmful is the NXDOMAIN DDoS Attack, also known as DNS Water Torture or Pseudo-Random Subdomain (PRSD) Attack. These attacks target DNS infrastructure with the aim of weakening or even crippling an organization's digital services.

Get to know the DNS Function in Digital Infrastructure

DNS (Domain Name System) is a key foundation for any activity on the internet. It translates memorable domain names, such as www.perkom.co.id, into IP addresses that computer systems can understand. Without DNS, web navigation would be extremely inefficient. Therefore, when the DNS system is disrupted, the impact can be immediately felt by users and business operations.

How NXDOMAIN DDoS Attacks Work

In this attack, the attacker uses a network of bots (botnet) to flood DNS servers with requests for domain names or subdomains that do not exist. The DNS server will still try to find an answer, and respond with NXDOMAIN, which means “non-existent domain”. The sheer volume of requests will drain the DNS server's resources, causing performance to slow down until the service becomes unavailable.

Source by Akamai

Impact of NXDOMAIN DDoS Attack

• Service Interruption: Users are unable to access sites or applications because DNS servers are overwhelmed with requests.

• Business Losses: Service interruptions can have a direct impact on reputation and revenue.

• Increased Infrastructure Load: Companies are forced to add capacity to cope with the fake load.

• Distraction Attack: Often used as a distraction from other cyberattacks, such as data theft.
  
  

Akamai: A Robust Solution for DNS Protection

Akamai Technologies is one of the world's leading providers of digital security and performance services. With decades of experience addressing cyber threats on a global scale, Akamai provides a wide range of solutions to protect DNS infrastructure, including from NXDOMAIN DDoS attacks.

Some of Akamai's flagship solutions include:

• Akamai Edge DNS: Provides cloud-based DNS services with a resilient and fast distributed architecture. This solution is designed to remain responsive even under extreme traffic conditions due to attacks.

• Akamai Shield NS53: Acts as a DNS proxy to protect your internal DNS. Shield NS53 is capable of filtering out malicious requests at the edge, enforcing data-driven security policies, and reducing exposure to external threats.

By leveraging Akamai's technology and global network, enterprises can strengthen their defense layer against unexpected DNS threats.

NXDOMAIN DDoS Attack Mitigation Strategy

To minimize the risk of these attacks, companies can implement the following approaches:

• Real-Time DNS Monitoring to detect traffic anomalies early.

• Rate Limiting and Filtering to prevent suspicious requests from overwhelming the server.

• Using Resilient DNS Architecture like Akamai's for even load distribution.

• Layered protection to protect all layers of the IT system, from network to application.

How Akamai solutions can help protect your digital infrastructure

Akamai offers a comprehensive portfolio of solutions to protect your digital infrastructure from various DDoS attacks. You can use the following table as a reminder on how to customize your security solution based on your specific needs.

Conclusion

NXDOMAIN DDoS attacks may work silently, but their destructive power is very real. Therefore, companies that want to maintain stability and user trust should start paying attention to the DNS layer in their security system.

With Akamai, you are not only strengthening your digital defenses but also ensuring business continuity amidst increasing cyber threats.

📌Read More:
 Akamai – What is NXDOMAIN DDoS?

Author: Ghea Devita

Marketing Communication, PT Perkom Indah Murni.