Cache Defender

Prevent malicious cache poisoning - the #1 source of pharming attacks

Pharming attacks can devastate an enterprise's web operations. They target customer facing web operations and are a major source of identity theft, which can tarnish your business' reputation-and subsequently, destroy your customers' confidence in your online services instantly. Unfortunately, the threat of cache poisoning has recently increased dramatically!

In July 2008, Dan Kaminsky of Doxpara Research shook the Internet Community when he unveiled a major security vulnerability inherent within a core technology on which the Internet depends. Considered by many to be one of the most serious threats ever to face the Internet, the vulnerability occurs within the Internet's recursive DNS process, which is the first step of all on-line activity. By poisoning the cache of recursive DNS servers criminals are able to direct users to 'bogus' websites where their sensitive data can be 'pharmed'.

The Solution: Cache Defender

To address this threat, Neustar, through its UltraDNS Services and in partnership with leading ISPs, has launched Cache Defender. Based on patent-pending technology, Cache Defender is integrated within the UltraDNS Managed DNS Service and provides UltraDNS customers with unprecedented protection against pharming attacks by neutralizing the malicious cache poisoning threat.

How does Cache Defender work?

NeuStar has deployed proprietary appliances both in the core of major ISP networks and at each node of NeuStar's UltraDNS Directory Services Platform, a global authoritative DNS infrastructure that powers the DNS for millions of domains and thousands of enterprise customers globally.

By signing and verifying these DNS queries, Cache Defender provides a secure link between the ISPs recursive servers and the UltraDNS authoritative servers, preventing malicious DNS responses from 'poisoning' the recursive server's cache.

Why is Cache Poisoning such a threat?

All online activity begins and ends with a recursive DNS server, which commonly resides within an ISP network. Malicious cache poisoning occurs when an attacker's DNS server responds to the recursive server's query BEFORE an authoritative server can do so. The result: Erroneous website addresses are "cached" and countless unsuspecting users are sent to erroneous websites where their sensitive data is stolen.

How it happens:

To learn more about this vulnerability, and how Cache Defender protects your business and your customers, download our white paper (link "download our white paper" to the white paper).

Protecting your business and your customers is imperative - and UltaDNS enables you to do just that with our UltraDNS Managed DNS Service with Cache Defender.

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