Why Using DNS for Protection Should Be Your First Line of Defense

With continued hybrid work, anywhere, anytime access is key to employee productivity and retention. But this level of access adds additional security concerns. As different vulnerabilities emerge, organizations will need to develop new network security strategies; hackers are paying attention, and they are matching today’s technology and work practices with their own innovations.

There is no simple solution to these security concerns, and the burden of cybersecurity is growing for businesses of all sizes.

Sophisticated, shape-shifting threats

Today’s security professionals need to protect against known threats like ransomware, along with new risks like Emotet, malicious cryptomining, and targeted attacks on specific industries like financial services, manufacturing, and education.

According to Cybersecurity Ventures, ransomware costs are expected to reach $265 billion by 2031, with forecasts predicting that a new attack will occur every two seconds.

The nature of these threats are also changing rapidly. Hackers have graduated from attacks designed to steal data to extortion hacks that lock users out of their data unless a ransom is paid. In other instances, attackers manipulate files and sabotage software and appliances to affect stock value or deface websites.

So how can you protect your business?

Start simple with DNS-layer security

It’s time to use the internet to your security advantage. DNS makes the Internet work and controls our access to it – making it important for our everyday security.

Operating at the DNS-layer, DNS-layer protection provides a comprehensive defense for the entire ecosystem of an organization. It can:

• Stop threats over all ports and protocols, stop malware earlier, and prevent callbacks to attackers if infected machines connect to your network

• Route requests to risky domains to a selective proxy for deeper URL and file inspection to effectively protect without delay or performance impact

• Provides visibility into cloud apps used across your organization, so you can easily identify potential risk and block specific applications

Why Cisco Umbrella for DNS-layer security?

Cisco Umbrella delivers reliable and safe DNS-Layer protection to millions of people around the world by improving security visibility, detecting compromised systems, and protecting users on and off the network by stopping threats before they reach your network or endpoints.

If you aren’t quite sure what DNS is or how to secure it, don’t worry – we’ve put together a helpful guide on the domain name system that you can review.

Cisco Umbrella’s DNS-Layer security is the fastest and easiest way to enjoy immediate protection. Reduce malware and alerts by blocking threats at the source. Umbrella reduces the number of infections and alerts you see from other security products. And because there is no hardware or software to install or update, ongoing management is simple.

Since 2006, Umbrella DNS security has provided 100% business uptime using carrier-neutral data centers. Anycast routing ensures that requests are transparently sent to the fastest available location with automatic failover.