Trusted name resolution with DNSSEC
Additional Security
Of course, DNSSEC cannot replace other security measures, such as VPNs or public key infrastructures. Public PKIs manage certificates signed by acknowledged CAs. And if SSL/TLS use is based on this technology, the level of authenticity and trust is far more than DNSSEC can hope to offer. DNSSEC is particularly useful for protecting users who would accept untrusted certificates.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Setting up a chain of trust with DNSSEC is fairly easy, but managing one is more difficult. All the stakeholders – from the root to the last zone delegated by it – need regularly updated keys if the resolver is to work correctly.
The NSEC records make it possible to read all the records in a zone with zone-walking techniques. Because the developers of DNS designed the protocol to be open and freely accessible, they deliberately did not design DNSSEC for confidentiality. On the other hand, confidentiality is an unequivocal data protection objective.
Many registrars view zone walking as a data protection problem. The NSEC3 draft details a potential solution to the problem that relies on encryption. Skeptics question whether publicly resolvable DNS names are worth protecting; although they see the problem of unauthorized persons systematically listing zones, they object that other measures provide more in the line of data protection and trust. They include Access Control Lists and client authentication, but do not extend to freely available DNS records. Of course, the decision will be influenced by your company's security policies. Experts say that another issue preventing the introduction of DNSSEC is that a DNSSEC name server's cryptographic processes put twice as much load on the infrastructure as a normal server.
Conclusions
As is so often the case, politics also plays a role. The question of who manages the private key in the root zone is still open. On the one hand, RIPE and other registrars have asked the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to sign the root zone as soon as possible; on the other hand, some people worry about handing complete control of the private key to a US authority.
Many people regard the root zone server as the last line of defense against state intervention, and it is understandable that they do not want to place the root zone behind a private key. Global discussions have not prevented private zone administrators from testing and introducing DNSSEC. Most private zones are not affected by the NSEC data protection issue because they only contain www, mail, and other public records.
If they publish the KSK centrally – in a DLV registry, for example – third parties can use DNSSEC without any trouble.
Where personal data is at stake, as in online banking or shopping, providers can boost trustworthiness by creating a DNSSEC-protected zone.
Infos
- Multiple standards documents specify DNSSEC: RFC 4033 (Intro), RFC 4034 (Records), RFC 4035 (Protocol), and RFC 3658 (DS): http://tools.ietf.org/html
- DNSSEC HOWTO: http://nlnetlabs.nl/dnssec_howto
- ISC name server: http://www.isc.org/
- DNSSEC-Tools: http://www.dnssec-tools.org/
- ISC DLV registry: https://secure.isc.org/index.pl?/ops/dlv/
« Previous 1 2 3 4
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
![Learn More](https://www.linux-magazine.com/var/linux_magazin/storage/images/media/linux-magazine-eng-us/images/misc/learn-more/834592-1-eng-US/Learn-More_medium.png)
News
-
NVIDIA Released Driver for Upcoming NVIDIA 560 GPU for Linux
Not only has NVIDIA released the driver for its upcoming CPU series, it's the first release that defaults to using open-source GPU kernel modules.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 24.07 Released
If you’re into rolling release Linux distributions, OpenMandriva ROME has a new snapshot with a new kernel.
-
Kernel 6.10 Available for General Usage
Linus Torvalds has released the 6.10 kernel and it includes significant performance increases for Intel Core hybrid systems and more.
-
TUXEDO Computers Releases InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen9 Laptop
Sporting either AMD or Intel CPUs, the TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 is an extremely compact, lightweight, sturdy powerhouse.
-
Google Extends Support for Linux Kernels Used for Android
Because the LTS Linux kernel releases are so important to Android, Google has decided to extend the support period beyond that offered by the kernel development team.
-
Linux Mint 22 Stable Delayed
If you're anxious about getting your hands on the stable release of Linux Mint 22, it looks as if you're going to have to wait a bit longer.
-
Nitrux 3.5.1 Available for Install
The latest version of the immutable, systemd-free distribution includes an updated kernel and NVIDIA driver.
-
Debian 12.6 Released with Plenty of Bug Fixes and Updates
The sixth update to Debian "Bookworm" is all about security mitigations and making adjustments for some "serious problems."
-
Canonical Offers 12-Year LTS for Open Source Docker Images
Canonical is expanding its LTS offering to reach beyond the DEB packages with a new distro-less Docker image.
-
Plasma Desktop 6.1 Released with Several Enhancements
If you're a fan of Plasma Desktop, you should be excited about this new point release.