A solution called Akamai Shield NS53, which guards against resource depletion attacks on on-premises (on-prem) DNS infrastructure, has been revealed by Akamai. Servers are overloaded by these attacks to the extent that they are unable to reply to legitimate DNS queries. The new service is a supplement to Akamai’s distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) security platform for Layer 3 and Layer 4 threats, Akamai Prolexic, and Akamai Edge DNS.
DDoS attacks against DNS infrastructure have significantly increased in volume and frequency during the last three years, stated Akamai. The fact that more than 60% of the DDoS attacks that Akamai mitigated in the fourth quarter of 2023 had a DNS component shows that leaders in digital infrastructure security continue to place a high premium on the security, availability, and reliability of critical DNS infrastructure. Organizations might suffer financial losses and reputational harm when their DNS infrastructure fails.
“Akamai recognizes the security challenges faced by our customers and our partners in a rapidly evolving threat landscape, and we focus on offering robust DDoS protection for all key entry points to their digital infrastructure, whether on-prem, in cloud, or hybrid,” said Sean Lyons, SVP and GM of Infrastructure Security at Akamai. “Organizations are looking for a better way to manage the increasing volume of DNS/DDoS attacks they face every year. With the launch of Shield NS53, customers can rest assured their servers will have no downtime, and they can instead focus on business operations.”
Blocking Unauthorized DNS Queries at the Edge
Approximately 40% of DNS inquiries for the top 50 financial services clients are fraudulent NXDOMAIN queries, commonly referred to as DNS resource depletion attacks, according to data analyzed by Akamai, which processes over 11 trillion DNS requests per day. To defend their on-premises and hybrid DNS infrastructure from such threats, security leaders may now use Akamai Shield NS53. This solution would benefit clients in the following ways:
- Acting as a shield between cybercriminals and critical digital assets – to enhance its security, availability, and speed by blocking unauthorized DNS queries at the edge of Akamai’s network and answering valid queries from cache or by sending them to the customer’s original DNS server.
- Proactively building custom DNS security policies – which clients can self-configure through APIs or the Akamai Control Center. Users can enforce their policies instantly and have total control over the data and configurations of their dynamic policies.
- Improving the performance and the ROI of existing DNS infrastructure – by functioning as a proxy service that can go in both directions, so lowering latency and enhancing the user experience. Furthermore, Shield NS53 may enhance and optimize the total cost of ownership as well as the return on investment (ROI) of customers’ investments in their existing on-premises or hybrid DNS infrastructure.
To help clients onboard Akamai Shield NS53, Akamai is utilizing its deep on-premises business infrastructure security experience and worldwide partner network. The new solution is immediately available from Akamai’s strategic partners such as Carahsoft in North America, as well as from additional authorized partners worldwide.
