The combination of all these roadblocks makes PDNS less attractive to decision-makers. Most importantly, it creates a catch-22: with fewer resources allocated, the ROI remains unclear\u2014pushing PDNS projects lower on the priority list during resource planning. <\/p>\n
Protective DNS Isn\u2019t Binary; It\u2019s a Journey<\/h3>\n
To overcome these blockers, a systematic, step-by-step approach can help. Why use a spectrum? Because PDNS isn\u2019t binary. Like many other technologies, PDNS requires time and organizational maturity to implement effectively. Additionally, today\u2019s security market is saturated with various solutions, each claiming some level of PDNS functionality\u2014yet often lacking the depth and effectiveness needed to support real-world use cases. As a result, it becomes increasingly difficult for security decision-makers to determine which tools to adopt and how to do so effectively. <\/p>\n
An alternative approach is to frame PDNS as a maturity journey\u2014enabling initiative-takers and project managers to help organizations identify the right solution based on their size, goals and current capabilities. <\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a simplified overview of how to effectively roll out PDNS: <\/p>\n
Step 1: Run a Time-Limited, One-Time Assessment by an External Expert <\/strong><\/p>\n This approach helps organizations quickly uncover previously unknown risks within their network. More importantly, visibility into these risks initiates high-level conversations among decision-makers and highlights the potential benefits that PDNS can offer. In simple terms: tell me what I don\u2019t know. <\/p>\n Step 2: Initiate Continuous Monitoring to Feed SecOps <\/strong><\/p>\n Once the risks are understood, the organization can greenlight the exposure of PDNS to security and network operations teams. During this phase, PDNS should be enabled in detection mode, providing continuous threat detection events to monitoring and analytics functions such as SIEM. Key results include new insights into which assets are at risk, when and why. Security teams can use this data to track threats and correlate findings with existing tools. <\/p>\n This step offers different users distinct insights. SOC analysts <\/strong>gain access to valuable new threat signals, enhancing decision-making through deeper visibility into DNS-layer activity. Detection engineers<\/strong> can use this phase to identify gaps in existing detections and improve coverage.<\/p>\n Most importantly, by continuously uncovering and trending previously unknown risks, organizations build confidence in the data and develop a clearer understanding of their threat landscape. <\/p>\n Step 3: Activate Preemptive Security for Confirmed Malicious Domains <\/strong><\/p>\n After security teams gain confidence in the risk signals, specific blocking policies<\/strong> can be enabled using response policy zones. This powerful DNS security mechanism allows network and security administrators to modify DNS query responses<\/strong> based on custom policies\u2014enabling real-time blocking, redirection or logging of potentially malicious or unwanted domain lookups. <\/p>\n This phase allows organizations to begin experiencing tangible benefits, such as a reduction in the number of security alerts and elimination of time-consuming incidents. Network teams may also observe improvements in traffic quality and performance. <\/p>\n Step 4: Expand Blocking and Optimize Controls <\/strong><\/p>\n As the organization gains experience in preemptively blocking threats, PDNS policies can be expanded. This phase may also enable consolidation or replacement<\/strong> of outdated security controls\u2014such as hard-to-manage access control lists or redundant endpoint policies\u2014leading to a more efficient security architecture. <\/p>\n Figure1. Protect DNS maturity with steps and tasks<\/p>\n Continuous monitoring using detection-only mode (step 2) plays a critical role in the successful adoption of PDNS, as new threats can be detected without requiring major changes to the infrastructure. A strong example of such threats is the detection of DNS-based command-and-control (C2) traffic. <\/p>\n Due to the widespread use of DNS tunneling tools\u2014legit and malicious\u2014many security teams struggle to effectively monitor and control DNS traffic for C2 traffic. While next-generation firewalls or secure access service edge (SASE) type technologies have some capabilities to detect DNS tunneling, several complexities remain. Content delivery networks, usage of new lookalike domains and the expansion of legitimate DNS C2 tools complicate the detection and blocking of all C2 activities. <\/p>\n To address this challenge, PDNS solutions that leverage predictive threat intelligence\u2014actively tracking threat actors and their infrastructure\u2014are essential. Powered by this intelligence, PDNS provides security teams with a precise scalpel for detecting C2 activity, rather than relying on broad, reactive measures based on previously known attacks. <\/p>\n As DNS tunnels are detected, many security decision-makers and practitioners immediately see the value. A key reason is that understanding and mitigating DNS tunneling is vital for protecting enterprises and meeting compliance standards like the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). <\/p>\n Infoblox Threat Defense\u2122 makes detection of C2 and many other threats easier by offering a detection-only mode only that does not require any changes to existing network architectures, eliminating time consuming network redesigns or possible service interruptions. <\/p>\n The new insight also helps demonstrate the potential impact of enforcement<\/strong>, making the transition to active blocking more acceptable. Most importantly, detection-only mode provides a foundation to clearly articulate the ROI<\/strong> of PDNS by showing measurable security value without disrupting operations. <\/p>\n PDNS is not a binary, on-off solution. Given its relatively recent emergence in the security technology landscape, it requires a step-by-step adoption approach. By following a phased roll-out model, organizations can efficiently realize the full benefits of PDNS by leveraging existing resources and gradually integrating it without major investments. <\/p>\n To learn more about Infoblox\u2019s PDNS solution, Threat Defense<\/a>, and how to leverage detection-only mode, visit the Infoblox website<\/a> or contact one of our specialists. New to PDNS? Request a DNS workshop here<\/a>. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.infoblox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/protect-dns-maturity-with-steps-and-tasks.jpg\")
<\/p>\nExample Detections Accelerating the Adoption of PDNS <\/h3>\n
Learn More about Infoblox Threat Defense<\/h3>\n
Footnotes<\/h3>\n