Healthcare institutions are proving to be increasingly targeted for cyberattacks such as DDoS and ransomware, causing life-threatening impact as well as severe breach damage costs. As it ensures seamless connectivity to important systems and services, enabling timely access to critical information, DNS is a top target and attack vector for cybercriminals. It’s therefore no surprise that the IDC 2023 Global DNS Threat Report emphasizes specialized DNS Security, incorporating DNS Threat Intelligence, to be mandatory for proactive network security.

Enlarged threat landscape: NIS 2 Directive enforced for Healthcare 

To enhance cost-efficiency and quality of their services, healthcare organizations worldwide have turned to digital solutions. Electronic Patient Records (EPR) have brought new opportunities, but healthcare providers now have to manage a sprawling supply chain of hardware and software vendors. Multi-cloud apps, connected devices, remote access, and AI usage for clinical decisions have accentuated IT management complexity. Combined with a lack of investment in cybersecurity maturity, this has left healthcare networks extremely vulnerable. 

Cyberattacks and breaches hinder hospitals from delivering timely care, and often require healthcare facilities to pay substantial ransoms for retrieving stolen data and restoring IT systems. One of the most devastating attacks involved the use of a phishing email by the Conti Ransomware Gang to compromise the Irish Health Service Executive (HSE). With 80% of data in the system being encrypted, the national diagnostic imaging platform became inaccessible and radiotherapy services paused. And the loss of access to patient details, appointments, and medical records resulted in postponement of 50% of acute outpatient appointments and clinical interventions.

The level of danger has driven the WHO and law enforcement agencies to issue warnings in 2024 about the threat of cyberattacks to the healthcare sector. To address the growing digital risk, it’s important that healthcare enhances its level of readiness to defend itself and its digital assets against cyber-attacks. Unsurprisingly the NIS 2 directive features healthcare as an essential entity.

DNS attacks are top of mind: DNS threat intelligence is vital

Healthcare has now become one of the most targeted industries for cyberattacks such as DDoS, phishing, data theft and ransomware, often using DNS as an attack target or vector.  According to the IDC Threat Report, 87% of healthcare organizations were victims of DNS attacks, suffering an average of 7.1 attacks each, at a cost of $995K per attack (up from $906K in 2022 and $862K in 2021).

Top DNS Attack Types Suffered by Healthcare

• Phishing 49%
• Ransomware 31%
• DDoS 37%
• DNS Tunneling 34%

Impacts of DNS Attacks on Healthcare Organizations

• Cloud service downtime 50% 
• In-house app downtime 59% (highest across all industries)
• Data theft 21%
• Brand damage 36% 

The IDC report found each DNS attack takes an alarming 5 hrs 47 mins to mitigate. Considering the importance of stable networks for patient care, defenses being used to mitigate DNS attacks are worrying as they disrupt services like patient monitoring, diagnostic imaging, and medication dispensing systems, potentially causing harm or loss of life: 52% shut down the DNS, 37% disabled the affected apps, and 28% shut down part of their network infrastructure.  

The findings in the threat survey led to IDC Security Research Manager Romain Fouchereau stating:

“The impact caused by DNS attacks is real and ever-increasing, so the time to act is NOW! Consolidating DNS threat intelligence and observability across the security ecosystem enables proactive defense, reduces cyberthreats, and enhances protection.” 

The following sections take a deeper look at some of the impacts of DNS attacks on Healthcare, and how purpose-built DNS Security helps protect networks.

Ransomware: Protect using DNS Filtering

Today’s healthcare institutions are being targeted by well-equipped and well-funded professionals. These cybercriminals routinely launch ransomware attacks against critical infrastructures like hospitals, clinics, medical research laboratories etc. creating a direct threat to public health and safety. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, in 2023 there were more than 630 ransomware incidents impacting healthcare worldwide. The top ransomware groups identified were LockBit, Cl0p, ALPHV, and BianLian. Notable ransomware incidents against healthcare have included Petya, WannaCry, GandCrab, Locky, and Ryuk. As an example, a large hospital network attacked by ransomware resulted in over USD $100 million in damages, with multiple sites and half a million patients being impacted: stolen patient data, payroll disruption, delays in patient care, ambulances diverted, EHR downtime. 

With modern ransomware actors often leveraging Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS), and critical Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) devices being used are potential targets in ransomware attacks, urgent steps are required to prevent significant downtime costs and damage. EfficientIP DNS Security helps considerably, with the IDC report showing 53% of healthcare organizations already use DNS security for ransomware and malware protection. Unusual traffic patterns can be identified via DNS traffic analysis, unveiling zero-day malicious domains which are being used by ransomware for data exfiltration. In addition, our DNS Filtering blocks access to known malicious domains – thus stopping ransomware from communication with its C2 servers, as well as preventing ransomware initiation by inhibiting access to known phishing sites.

Data Theft: Detect early via DNS traffic analysis to meet regulatory compliance

Dozens of data breaches have been reported within the last few months alone. Norton Healthcare in Kentucky confirmed threat actors gained unauthorized access to personal information affecting 2.5 million patients and employees. In Asia, the Indian Council of Medical Research stated that 81.5 million Indian citizens may have had their Covid test and other health data exposed to a huge data breach by a threat actor going by the name of “pwn0001”.

In an attempt to strengthen protection of sensitive patient data, healthcare regulations are becoming more and more strict. Trying to comply with  HIPAA, HITECH, HICP, NIST, NIS 2, GDPR, and PDPA has become a daunting challenge for healthcare providers, accentuated by device proliferation, network complexity, and the increasing processing of patient data for AI and ML processing.

Regulations require any entity involved in a patient’s care to protect medical data. This includes security access to information stored in EPRs. DNS security is a specialized layer of defense which complements security systems to strengthen protection of sensitive patient data. The IDC threat survey found that 59% of healthcare respondents consider DNS security helps prevent data exfiltration by detecting improper DNS flow and blocking related traffic. With EfficientIP DNS Guardian, access to patient data can be automatically protected by analyzing DNS traffic to detect DNS tunneling or C&C.

Connected devices: DNS Security enables Zero Trust to secure IoT

Hospitals today deliver patient care using telemedicine apps, robotic equipment, and connected machines such as MRI and heart rate monitors. Juniper Research forecasts that by 2026 hospitals worldwide would deploy 7.4 million IoMT devices, with on average each hospital running 3,850 devices. IoT has revolutionized healthcare but at the same time opened it to cybersecurity risks. Any device which becomes infected with malware can be used to orchestrate ransomware, exfiltrate patient data, or quickly spread infection on the network. Healthcare cybersecurity provider Cynerio reported that 56% of hospitals have had their IoT/IoMT devices attacked in the past two years, and 88% of data breaches involved IoT devices. 

Cybercriminals using IoT devices as entry points to IT infrastructure often leverage DNS as an attack vector. DNS Security should therefore be a “no brainer”, but surprisingly only 45% of healthcare IT personnel view DNS as being of high importance for protecting IoT devices – well below the average across all verticals of 54%.

EfficientIP DNS Security allows you to make DNS an early point of detection in order to automatically secure all devices and safeguard patient data. Botnet activity, for example, can be combated by intelligently controlling which apps or infrastructure components each IoT device is allowed to access, helping accelerate Zero Trust strategies. Zero Trust lets healthcare organizations take advantage of the many benefits of connected clinical devices without exposing them to cyberthreats and ransomware. With 75% of institutions planning, piloting or running Zero Trust today, 89% consider DNS filtering valuable for controlling IoT device access via allow & deny lists. By blocking lateral movement of threats, DNS naturally becomes your first line of defense.

DNS Threat Intelligence Enables Proactive Network Security

But it’s important to understand that the protection provided by the security mechanisms described above is further maximized when combined with DNS-centric intelligence. When it comes to cybersecurity defense, threat intelligence is now confirmed as a vital element. Over half of the healthcare organizations surveyed by IDC consider it a vital component of their defense strategy. 85% of malware uses DNS to develop its attack, so any effective security strategy relies on specialized DNS Threat Intelligence. One in four healthcare institutions already make use of DNS data for their threat intelligence, with this number expected to rise rapidly in the next two years. As highlighted in the IDC report, key to having effective DNS threat intelligence is a quality DNS threat feed.

Implementing and offering DNS threat intelligence raises IT teams to a proactive level of defense, to better protect against phishing and malware. EfficientIP, as a leader in DNS security, provides a cloud-based DNS intelligence portal benefitting from our high-quality DNS threat intelligence feed which leverages a massive volume of DNS intelligence data. Valuable security event information and contextual data can be automatically shared with multiple vendor platforms such as NAC, SIEM, or SOAR tools to simplify and accelerate remediation for SOCs. As a complement, our DNS observability product brings insightful DNS analytics to facilitate troubleshooting and investigation. 

Key DNS Security takeaways from the IDC Threat Report

DNS services are imperative for keeping doctors, patients, and devices connected to the Internet and cloud services/apps. The EfficientIP DNS Security solution helps protect healthcare devices, users and apps against data theft, ransomware and other damaging attacks such as DDoS which cause downtime of critical apps and services. 

Three key takeaways from the IDC Report are:

1. Move to proactive defense by using DNS threat intelligence feeds
2. Strengthen your security posture with DNS Observability
3. Accelerate threat remediation by integrating DNS data into your network security ecosystem

The NIS 2 directive underscores the importance of robust DNS security to uphold internet integrity, highlighting DNS’s critical role in digital infrastructure and vulnerability to cyber threats. Implementing a Protective DNS Security solution combined with DNS-centric threat intelligence and other security measures is essential for organizations to improve defenses, minimize cyber risks, and ensure compliance with new standards set by NIS 2, thereby maintaining internet stability and security. Let’s take a closer look.

NIS 2: What’s next?

The year ahead is set to bring notable change to the cybersecurity landscape as the European Union’s revised Network and Information Security Directive, NIS 2 comes into effect. This new directive is designed to level up cyber resilience for organizations across the EU by introducing stricter requirements for risk management and incident reporting, expanding the obligated sectors and entities, and increased penalties for non-compliance. The measures of the NIS 2 Directive are to be adopted and published by EU members, with enforcement by 18th October 2024.

With DNS playing a critical role in network operations, effective DNS management and security will be an important factor in complying with the new directive.   

Indeed, the directive states: “Upholding and preserving a reliable, resilient and secure domain name system (DNS) are key factors in maintaining the integrity of the internet and are essential for its continuous and stable operation, on which the digital economy and society depend”.

Key NIS 2 Directive requirements and the role of DNS security

The NIS 2 Directive introduces new cybersecurity requirements and obligations for organizations, focusing primarily on risk management and incident handling and response. Regarding cybersecurity risk management, entities are mandated to implement appropriate and proportionate technical, operational, and organizational measures to mitigate risks to their network and information systems. These measures should encompass various critical aspects such as conducting risk analysis, ensuring business continuity, securing supply chains, and providing cybersecurity training. 

Meanwhile, incident handling and reporting entails establishing procedures and utilizing technologies to prevent, detect, analyze, respond, and recover from an incident. Organizations are obligated to promptly notify the relevant authorities of any significant incidents, providing detailed information on the incident’s nature, severity, impact, and the mitigation measures undertaken. These authorities orchestrate responses to incidents spanning multiple countries and may mandate public disclosure to ensure transparency and raise awareness.

The NIS 2 directive highlights the vital role of DNS security in addressing its key objectives of risk management and incident handling and response. That’s not surprising, given the impact of DNS attacks, which can severely disrupt operations due to its critical role in the network. Under the directive, DNS-related measures play a crucial role in enhancing cybersecurity resilience. By ensuring the reliability and integrity of the DNS, security teams can effectively mitigate risks and respond to incidents, aligning with the directive’s mandates to promote a secure digital environment.

Financial consequences of neglecting DNS security

The financial consequences in case of a breach of the cybersecurity risk management and reporting obligations are significant, as highlighted by the NIS 2 directive. Enterprises must ensure their security capabilities, including DNS, are up to standard, or face fines of up to 10% of their annual turnover. The regulation categorizes entities into two distinct groups – essential and important. This determines the supervisory measures and penalties applicable to each category. Essential entities could face up to €10,000,000 or 2% of their total worldwide turnover for security non-compliance including DNS security, whereas important entities may incur up to €7,000,000 or 1.4%. In addition, NIS 2 can hold top management personally liable if gross negligence is proven following a cyber incident.

But, it is worth remembering that the financial impact of DNS attacks goes beyond the fines. DNS-based cyber attacks can have significant impacts in both the short and long term, leading to downtime, loss of productivity, missed deals, loss of customers, decreased market share, data confidentiality breach, and brand damage. 90% of organizations suffer DNS attacks, with the average cost of a DNS attack being estimated at $1.1 million by the 2023 IDC DNS threat report.

The clock is ticking to achieve compliance by October 2024 and avoid these fines and impacts. 

Elevating the role of DNS security 

DNS security is fundamental for maintaining the integrity and functionality of modern networks, as the DNS plays a pivotal role in routing traffic between users and applications. DNS ensures that users can access websites and apps, send emails, and utilize various essential services by translating human-readable domain names into the IP addresses that devices use to connect. However, the DNS wasn’t originally designed as a secure service. It was designed as an open and connectionless service, which did not account for malicious actors, making it vulnerable to exploitation.

DNS is not only targeted in cyberattacks, such as in distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks but also serves as an attack vector. Attackers take advantage of the DNS’s vulnerability to execute phishing attacks, to deploy ransomware and to perform sophisticated supply chain attacks as demonstrated in the SolarWinds attack. The DNS can be exploited across multiple attack stages including device infection, Command & Control communication, and attempts to steal sensitive data with data exfiltration. Attackers employ various methods to exploit DNS, including DNS spoofing, DNS hijacking, DNS tunneling, random Domain Name Generation (DGA), and more.

Traditional security solutions, such as next-generation firewalls and IPS products, encompass a broad range of cybersecurity measures. However, they frequently prioritize broader network protection over specific DNS threat detection and mitigation. This lack of specialization and expertise in effective DNS security, coupled with insufficient visibility into DNS traffic, limits their ability to offer advanced functionalities such as deep DNS traffic inspection and behavioral analysis. Furthermore, they may encounter challenges in managing volumetric DDoS attacks and producing numerous false positives, resulting in operational disruptions and increased costs within DNS operations. 

Protective DNS (PDNS) has emerged as a crucial DNS security recommendation from the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), as well as the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).  By analyzing and filtering DNS queries, it  helps prevent access to malicious or suspicious websites and mitigates the  risks associated with cyber threats. These capabilities are essential for both keeping the network secure and functional, and complying with NIS 2’s new requirements.

How EfficientIP helps meeting NIS 2 Directive head-on 

EfficientIP offers a comprehensive “all-hazards approach” that aligns with the risk management, incident handling, and business continuity requirements outlined in NIS 2. This multi-layered approach underscores EfficientIP’s commitment to helping organizations achieve NIS 2 compliance, ensuring end-to-end advanced protection against DNS threats.

By implementing the EfficientIP DNS Security solution, which includes DNS Guardian as the Protective DNS and groundbreaking DNS-centric threat intelligence with DNS Threat Pulse and DNS Intelligence Center, organizations can effectively manage and mitigate the risks associated with DNS-based attacks. This helps ensure business continuity in the face of evolving cyber threats. 

Real-time DNS incident handling: prevention, detection, investigation, and response

Leveraging innovative and patented algorithms such as deep DNS traffic inspection, behavioral threat analysis, AI-based Dynamic Generation Algorithm (DGA) detection, machine learning-driven image recognition, and natural language processing, EfficientIP’s technology facilitates prompt incident prevention and detection, meeting NIS 2 risk management and incident handling obligations. 

More specifically, DNS Threat Pulse provides an AI-powered, DNS-centric threat intelligence feed, continuously updated with malicious domain data for preemptive network protection. This feed, along with DNS filtering and advanced access controls, reduces the risk of users falling victim of phishing attacks by clicking malicious links, strengthens network defense, and facilitates risk reduction and management.

With patented DNS Transaction Inspection (DTI) technology, DNS Guardian performs a detailed analysis of DNS transactions to identify and counteract threats like cache poisoning, DNS tunneling, and malware attacks. Advanced behavioral analysis offers real-time detection of DNS-related incidents. These algorithms are designed to identify abnormal DNS traffic patterns indicative of malicious activities such as zero-day DNS attacks, command and control communications, or data exfiltration.

DNS Intelligence Center (DNS IC) brings vital insights for efficient incident investigation in real-time. It aggregates vast amounts of DNS statistics and data , enabling faster containment and accurate reporting to fulfill NIS 2 incident reporting requirements. 

Finally, DNS Guardian provides proactive and automated DNS responses. It utilizes patented adaptive countermeasures and unique innovations such as rescue mode to ensure service continuity. It seamlessly integrates with the existing security ecosystem and tools such as SIEM, SOAR, and NAC, enabling fast and effective remediation through actionable DNS insights and automated responses.  

Access control policies fulfilling Zero Trust principles

EfficientIP’s response to DNS attacks also includes applying Zero Trust principles via advanced access and application control capabilities, including privileged account management, continuous authentication, and DDI integration.

Our Client Query Filtering (CQF) offers innovative access control, allowing organizations to manage application access with unprecedented granularity. This approach goes beyond conventional DNS filtering by merging client-specific data with domain requests, facilitating customized access policies for distinct applications that are centrally managed. It also ensures robust protection against threats originating from the supply chain, leveraging DNS’s role as an early checkpoint in the connection flow.

DDI’s strategic role as a complement to DNS security  

The SOLIDserver DDI solution extends EfficientIP’s role in complying with NIS 2 beyond DNS security, through advanced network visibility and management. Integrating IP Address Management (IPAM) with NetChange IP Locator for on-premises device discovery, along with Cloud Observer for identifying network objects in the cloud, establishes a centralized repository of ‘IP Golden Records’. This comprehensive database serves as a Network Source of Truth, crucial for effective risk assessment, asset management, vulnerability detection, and detailed network mapping. Any changes are tracked for increased network security.

Moreover, the DDI solution simplifies and accelerates disaster recovery in distributed environments with multiple DNS and DHCP vendors through SmartArchitecture. It also guarantees business continuity and disaster recovery with Edge DNS Global Server Load Balancing (GSLB), thorough failure detection and automated failover across sites. This holistic approach supports DNS security initiatives and amplifies the overall effectiveness of an organization’s compliance with NIS2 requirements, offering a robust framework for network and information system security for increased resilience. 

Get NIS 2 ready: assess your DNS security risks now!

In conclusion, the NIS 2 directive recognizes the pivotal role of comprehensive DNS security in safeguarding digital infrastructure against cyber threats. By embracing DNS-centric security strategies, organizations can significantly bolster their cyber resilience, ensure regulatory compliance, and contribute to maintaining a secure, stable internet ecosystem. To evaluate the effectiveness of cybersecurity risk-management measures of your organization and further prepare for NIS2 compliance, feel free to engage with us for an in-depth analysis and possibly a free data exfiltration test. In just five minutes, you can assess your network’s vulnerability to data theft via DNS.  By proactively assessing your network’s security posture now, you can identify and address potential risks, helping you get ready for NIS 2 compliance.

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, APIs have become the backbone of seamless integration and automation within the IT infrastructure. EfficientIP SOLIDserver, a scalable, flexible, reliable, and secure solution for DNS, DHCP and IPAM management, provides powerful open APIs. Designed as an API-first platform, SOLIDserver offers developers rich secure REST APIs and tools to integrate, automate, and extend the functionality of their network infrastructure for greater efficiency and control while improving collaboration between DevOps, NetOps, and SecOps teams. Let’s see how you can get started quickly with concrete examples.

Exploring the API Package

The API package offers a streamlined method for executing SOLIDserver services through the REST mechanism. Leveraging a graphical user interface like Swagger, users can easily explore API specifications and execute commands seamlessly, accelerating the development and testing process. By simplifying object calls through modules, objects, and actions, the API package introduces a more structured approach, utilizing the <module>/<object>/<action> format. This structured approach enhances usability and makes it easier for developers to interact with SOLIDserver services. It is worth noting that any data exchanged will be in JSON format. 

Using Swagger, developers can get explanations of how to use a REST API, including detailed descriptions of each mandatory or optional parameter called in that REST API, and enter values for testing purposes. Once executed, the API response is returned, the request is displayed via cURL, and the detailed server response is returned in JSON.

Practical Examples for Simplifying Network Management with REST APIs

To illustrate what can be done with the SOLIDserver REST APIs, let’s delve into a series of potential usages:

1. Connection to the SOLIDserver API: Utilizing Swagger or similar tools, users can authenticate and establish connections to the SOLIDserver API, enabling seamless interaction with network services.

2. Listing IPAM Spaces: It is possible to retrieve a list of IPAM spaces, providing network teams with valuable insight into network segmentation and allocation. 

3. Retrieving Specific Space Information: Exploring how to obtain detailed information and properties about a specific IPAM space, facilitating targeted management and configuration.

4. Counting Total Networks: Showcasing the ability to count the total number of networks managed by SOLIDserver, aiding in capacity planning and resource allocation.

5. Filtering Networks by Space: Filtering network information based on specific IPAM spaces, allowing the network teams to focus on relevant data sets and streamline operations.

6. Ordering Network Listings: Ordering based on specific criteria such as network names, providing network teams with flexibility and control over data presentation.

7. Finding a free subnet or a free IP address in a space, subnet or pool

8. Adding an IP address with name, meta-data, and aliases

9. Adding a DNS record in a zone or DNS resource record creation 

10. Searching for an established Network Active Directory session using Identity Manager

11. Additional usages include network creation, filtering using metadata, network editing and deletion, as well as IP address management by provisioning a free IP Address for a service or device deployment including DNS naming. 

Advanced Ecosystem Integration Capability for End-to-end Automation

One of the key strengths of SOLIDserver APIs lies in their integration capabilities. By leveraging APIs, organizations can seamlessly integrate SOLIDserver with existing infrastructure and also third-party solutions, enabling full-stack end-to-end network automation, network source of truth and interoperability. Whether it’s triggering actions based on events or scheduled tasks, the versatility of SOLIDserver APIs opens up a world of possibilities for DevOps, NetOps, and SecOps alike. 

Example Use Cases: Network Automation Hub Leveraging SOLIDserver APIs

As outlined in the Gorilla Guide to Network Automation, SOLIDserver APIs empower developers to accelerate their network automation initiatives as well as increase their success and efficiency. As part of the EfficientIP Network Automation Hub, they play a key role in delivering fundamental use cases such as: 1) Discovering multi-cloud assets to help build an accurate Network Source of Truth (NSoT) for comprehensive visibility and control  2) Automating the deployment of infrastructure, applications, or services from provisioning to decommissioning 3) Alerting on DNS security events  4) Enforcing firewall policies to ensure compliance and rule configurations are always up-to-date and accurate.

Getting Started and REST APIs Best Practices

To start leveraging SOLIDserver APIs, users can download the API package from the EfficientIP website by logging in and clicking on Documentation and Downloads. Proper configuration is required, including activating Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) and enabling JavaScript calls on management devices. Additionally, users can explore open-source repositories for additional libraries and tools, enhancing the extensibility of SOLIDserver.

In conclusion, EfficientIP SOLIDserver REST APIs empower organizations to streamline network management, automate tasks, and integrate seamlessly with existing infrastructure and ecosystem. By exploring practical API examples, IT developers can unlock the full potential of their EfficientIP SOLIDserver DDI for enhanced efficiency, security, and scalability in network operations.

Network reliability is a critical necessity in the healthcare sector as it directly impacts patient care. The industry grapples with the challenges of maintaining seamless connectivity for essential services, simplifying multi-cloud and IoT management, and ensuring anywhere access to confidential patient data. Network modernization is vital to dealing with this complex scenario, with network automation being crucial for efficient deployment and management of network resources and security policies. Key to automation is a Network Source of Truth (NSoT) and secure, open APIs. For this, DNS-DHCP-IPAM known as DDI solutions for healthcare play a central role in advancing network automation projects. Leveraging smart DDI as a Network Automation Hub boosts operational efficiency, network resilience, and security compliance, as underscored in IDC’s 2023 Network Automation Report.

Elevating healthcare with advanced network automation

IDC’s research found that a significant portion of organizations in this sector, about 67%, are at a ‘Limited’ maturity level in network automation. This indicates a heavy reliance on manual processes with only occasional ad-hoc automation efforts. This lack of a comprehensive automation strategy leads to inefficiencies in the sector.

While there is a need for network automation maturity to increase, there are a few primary drivers for healthcare organizations to embrace network automation. We found that business model transformation and operating cost reduction are key factors, cited by 65% of decision-makers. Enhancing customer experience and business resilience are other key factors particularly crucial in this industry due to their direct impact on patient health.

However, this transition faces obstacles, such as a lack of consistency in automation efforts, challenges in automating specific tasks, security concerns, and difficulties implementing organizational and process changes. These inhibitors highlight the need for a more strategic approach to automation, especially in the medical department, considering its critical impact on efficiency and patient care.

Overcoming healthcare’s technical barriers

Enabling different tools to communicate and share information is one of the biggest issues impeding network automation. Nearly half of the decision-makers flagged it as a challenge, with problems due to different tools functioning on different formats, APIs, and protocols.

Furthermore, 40% face the challenge of lacking a trusted Network Source of Truth (NSoT), leading to fragmented network data and inefficient management of network objects and devices. Additionally, 53% struggle with automating legacy network systems, which were not designed with contemporary security requirements, making integrating modern solutions difficult.

However, these obstacles are worth overcoming as the benefits of network automation in healthcare are significant. Medical institutions have observed notable improvements in IT team productivity and operational efficiency. Service deployment has become faster, with considerable reductions in operating costs and MTTR (Mean Time to Repair). Additionally, this automation has led to fewer human errors and network outages. It also enhances network capacity planning and bolsters security compliance, further solidifying its value in the healthcare sector. Prioritizing network automation initiatives is crucial for healthcare institutions to overcome these technical barriers and reap the benefits of a more efficient and secure network infrastructure.

Healthcare’s strategic path to enhanced network management 

Network automation in the medical sector focuses on data center networks, security, compliance, Zero Trust, security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR), and application and service delivery. IDC’s research shows that healthcare organizations will prioritize tasks like network security analysis, zero-touch operations for network changes and provisioning, and network state monitoring over the next two years. Emphasizing automated upgrades and efficient resource management, these initiatives address the increasing complexity and cybersecurity threats healthcare networks face. 

DDI plays a crucial role in orchestrating the entire lifecycle of vital network resources in healthcare settings, ranging from the initial deployment of life-saving medical devices, all the way through to their secure retirement. This is especially critical for Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), where everything from advanced imaging equipment to wearable health monitors relies on robust network infrastructure for reliable and safe operation. This role ensures streamlined and efficient management across the network’s operational span, facilitating automated workflows and lifecycle management. Including DDI in network security automation also empowers medical organizations to enhance their security posture with more efficient policy management and real-time configuration changes, bolstering their defense against cyber threats.

Building blocks of healthcare’s network automation journey

In this sector, network automation’s foundation is built on several key components, each playing a unique role in enhancing network functionality and security. Central to this are SDN/SD-WAN controllers, which manage network paths efficiently, closely followed by DDI solutions for healthcare which are vital for coordinating DNS, DHCP, and IP address management. Configuration managers such as Ansible, Terraform, and others complement the top 3 network automation tools most used in healthcare to provision, configure, and orchestrate advanced workflows.

Underpinning all these is the NSoT, a centralized, up-to-date, and accurate network data repository. NSoT’s role is critical for network automation in ensuring consistent network configurations and other network operations, easing troubleshooting processes, and bolstering network security, yet its implementation remains limited in many organizations. This holistic approach is essential for maintaining network integrity and operational efficiency in the dynamic healthcare environment.

There is limited use of dedicated IP Address Management (IPAM) tools in healthcare, with only 27% of organizations employing them as their Source of Truth and a majority relying on Excel. This can pose significant challenges, as a reliance on manual processes and less specialized tools like Excel can lead to increased human error, outdated data, and inefficiencies in managing network resources.

Such gaps in utilizing advanced IPAM tools hinder the effective centralization and accuracy of network data, essential for streamlined and error-free network automation processes in healthcare. This underscores the need for more robust and specialized tools to ensure the integrity and efficiency of network management.

Crafting the future of healthcare IT with innovative DDI solutions for healthcare

More than half of the organizations in this sector recognize the high importance of DNS, DHCP, and IP Address Management (DDI) in their network automation strategies, a figure projected to rise to 88% within two years. DDI, functioning as a reliable NSoT, solves network automation issues by facilitating comprehensive end-to-end network automation. 70% of these organizations already share DNS data and events with their security operations teams.

DDI’s implementation in healthcare significantly enhances compliance with security regulations and laws like HIPAA in the US, with 80% of organizations using it for this purpose. Additionally, roughly half employ DDI for security policy, infrastructure, and application lifecycle management, while slightly less utilize it for capacity planning. Notably, healthcare organizations perceive DDI as beneficial for consolidating trusted network data and reducing risks. However, despite the high adoption rate of DDI solutions for healthcare, the use of IPAM as an NSoT stands at just 27%.

Open APIs in DDI systems should be used to interconnect IT tools and ecosystems, streamlining the lifecycle management of networking operations and enabling autonomous, zero-touch operations. This integration of DDI into healthcare networks ensures up-to-date and accurate NetSecOps automation, security policy deployment, and configuration rule management.

Transforming networks with EfficientIP’s pioneering DDI solutions for healthcare

EfficientIP’s DDI solution with built-in NSoT and secure, open APIs are a game changer for healthcare organizations worldwide, helping them modernize their networks. Our advanced DDI technology serves as a Network Automation Hub that pushes and pulls actionable data through automated workflows, fueling other tools in the network ecosystem. It enhances network availability and performance, enabling healthcare institutions to discover and manage network objects effortlessly across various environments. This approach facilitates autonomous networks, improves operational efficiency through automated processes, and significantly reduces configuration errors.

EfficientIP’s DDI solutions for healthcare help protect against unauthorized access and data breaches, adhering to stringent regulations like HIPAA and GDPR by ensuring high service resilience and automating security policy deployments. Simplifying IoT and connected device management, EfficientIP’s IPAM provides a consolidated, up-to-date data source integral to network automation tools. The  documented REST API allows seamless task automation, auto-discovery of devices in multi-cloud environments, enforcement of predefined policies for IP address allocation, rapid DNS record updates, and other functions to ensure standardization and consistency across the network.   

In an increasingly complex era of networks, EfficientIP’s DDI solutions for healthcare offer a transformative approach to network automation. By integrating DDI into their network strategies, medical organizations can ensure reliable and secure network performance, which is crucial for delivering exceptional patient care and safeguarding sensitive data in a rapidly evolving digital domain.

As modern networks become increasingly complex and difficult to manage, EfficientIP presents our DDI Observability Center to solve the challenges of network diversity, data overload, and limited visibility. This innovative cloud-based portal provides in-depth DDI and DNS telemetry, proactive monitoring, and interactive dashboards, enabling swift anomaly detection and efficient troubleshooting. It transforms network management by enhancing operational efficiency, optimizing network performance, and ensuring business resilience. This blog explores how DDI Observability not only addresses current network challenges but also aligns with key business objectives for comprehensive network optimization.

Observability in a nutshell

Observability is the ability to see and understand what’s going on in your network. This capability is the linchpin for managing and securing complex technology stacks, especially in multi-cloud environments. It offers invaluable real-time, in-depth visibility into the dense workings of modern networks.

This visibility is crucial for swiftly pinpointing and resolving anomalies and optimizing network performance. In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, observability goes beyond traditional monitoring. It’s about gaining actionable insights which enable organizations to maintain control over their network environments. It delivers benefits from cost control to enhancing operational efficiency, all while fortifying their resilience against unforeseen challenges and threats.

Confronting observability challenges in today’s networks

Today’s network ecosystems are extremely complex with countless assets, endpoints, and third-party integrations. On-premises infrastructure, multi-cloud systems, remote workers and more weave together into a single intricate network fabric. This complexity presents several challenges.  

Firstly, the sheer diversity and proliferation of devices and network usages add layers that traditional monitoring tools struggle to penetrate. Increased mobility and work-from-anywhere policies have added to this.

Secondly, the volume of data generated by these expansive networks is overwhelming. Organizations find themselves drowning in information, making it a struggle to discern critical anomalies from mundane data. This data fragmentation hampers real-time analysis, requiring robust computing resources and time-consuming human manpower for efficient processing and advanced analytics.

Finally, these challenges are exacerbated by limited visibility across devices and networks. Research from EMA found that 75% of organizations only have full visibility into 40% or less of their technology stack. Combined with this, network data is often heavily siloed and thus dependent on multiple tools for viewing and processing. This can quickly lead to tool sprawl, with a disparate collection of network solutions that do not integrate properly.

All of these factors combine to create a highly fragmented state that hinders the integration of effective observability strategies, leaving networks vulnerable and increasing the attack surface. Threat actors are taking advantage of these blind spots to launch DNS-based attacks. The IDC DNS Threat report found that 73% of organizations have experienced application downtime as a result of DNS attacks, causing many to shut down services or disable applications.

The essential role of DDI Observability

The key to understanding and resolving these network issues lies in deep insights into the DDI (DNS, DHCP, and IPAM) infrastructure. DDI Observability is pivotal, as it offers insights that are critical for diagnosing and resolving network anomalies.

By providing a comprehensive view of the DDI stack, DDI Observability aligns perfectly with key business objectives. It enhances business resilience by ensuring networks are robust and adaptable to changing conditions. Operational efficiency is significantly boosted, as network issues can be identified and resolved swiftly, minimizing downtime and improving productivity. Additionally, the cost savings achieved through efficient network management and reduced need for reactive measures contribute directly to the bottom line.

EfficientIP’s DDI Observability Center emerges as a key solution here, providing a cloud-based portal for near-real-time visibility and insightful analytics across any DDI architecture, ensuring robust network operations and optimal performance. This approach goes beyond monitoring to provide a comprehensive understanding of DDI  health.

Introducing EfficientIP’s DDI Observability Center

EfficientIP’s DDI Observability Center is a powerful solution for addressing critical network management issues. This cloud-based portal offers an unprecedented level of insight into DDI and DNS telemetry. Its main features include:

Comprehensive DDI Telemetry: Providing extensive, insightful DDI and DNS metrics, statistics, and analytics for near real-time visualization and analysis of the entire DDI infrastructure.

Proactive Monitoring: Constantly scanning the DDI stack and DNS traffic  to identify potential issues including latency, capacity, or misconfiguration, before they escalate into major problems.

Interactive Dashboards: Offering a user-friendly interface for easy access to critical DDI data and insights.

Deploying the DDI Observability Center provides multiple important benefits as it optimizes network performance and operational efficiency. Troubleshooting becomes simpler and more efficient, reducing downtime and enhancing overall productivity. Further, it ensures an excellent user experience by maintaining the high performance and reliability of DNS and DDI services.

On the network security side, it also helps strengthen defenses by correlating detailed metrics, crucial for quickly identifying and mitigating potential threats. From a financial perspective, it offers cost savings and optimizes resource allocation by streamlining network data handling and operations  processes.

What sets our solution apart from others is its comprehensive approach to network observability. It provides a single viewpoint visibility, enabling early detection of anomalies and proactive monitoring. The interactive dashboards facilitate a user-friendly experience, making pertinent data accessible and actionable. This level of detail and control is unparalleled, making EfficientIP’s DDI Observability Center a must-have tool in any modern network management toolkit.

The benefits of EfficientIP DDI Observability Center are enhanced further in combination with our DNS Intelligence Center – Read DNS Intelligence Center blog here to find out more.

2023 turned out to be another interesting year for Network and Security teams. With the worrying geo-political situation affecting supplies and costs, and network complexity rising, organizations struggled to keep control of their IT architectures. Two important concerns continued to rise. Poor visibility over IT network activity has made them increasingly difficult to manage, and cybercriminals are launching more increasingly-sophisticated attacks, often exploiting DNS. So to take back control over network operations in 2024, observability, network automation and DNS Threat Intelligence have become top-of-mind, aided by APIs, AIOps, and smart DDI (DNS-DHCP-IPAM).

As we head into 2024, here are Top 5 emerging trends we forecast will intensify in 2024 concerning network automation, security, and observability:

1. Important shift to proactive network protection leveraging Threat Intelligence data insights

Current Situation
With cyberattacks increasing in frequency and sophistication, security teams are faced with data overload. They are required to sift through huge volumes of security logs to distinguish real threats from false alerts. Taking a reactive stance to threats is now no longer acceptable.

What’s Required
To prevent breach fatigue, SOCs need easier detection of threats, simpler investigation, and faster remediation. High quality Threat Intelligence and filtering via quality feeds are therefore fundamental. Actionable insights gained from real-time analysis are needed to allow real threats to be more easily distinguished. 

How DDI Helps
DNS is ideally placed to provide data on network events, so is essential to the global security strategy of any organization. Combining actionable DNS analytics with DNS threat intelligence feeds creates an effective DNS-centric threat intelligence solution, valuable for proactively defending against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. The new IDC DNS Threat Report confirms that over 75% of organizations consider threat intelligence based on actionable DNS data brings better ransomware protection, better malware protection, and improved phishing detection. 

2. Modernization of Network Observability for optimizing operations, performance, and compliance

Current Situation
Increased infrastructure complexity and tool sprawl have reduced the control IT staff have over their networks, leading to operational and performance challenges. Effective management, operation, and protection of networks to ensure business resilience has therefore become very difficult.  

What’s Required
To understand where and why network issues are occurring, your NOC teams need comprehensive visibility into network activity. Real-time monitoring of infrastructure components and traffic is required to overcome network operational inefficiencies and reduce risks of outages. DNS-DHCP-IPAM (DDI) is central to the infrastructure, hence a valuable source of information.

How DDI Helps
A modern DDI Observability solution provides single-viewpoint visibility over your DDI infrastructure and related DNS traffic. Your networking and SOC teams gain valuable insights into network health, performance and resource utilization. DDI Observability helps detect anomalies easier and simplifies troubleshooting in order to optimize network operations and performance, strengthen business resilience, and improve UX.

3. Increasing dependence on Network Source of Truth (NSoT) for Network Automation 

Current Situation
The uncertain economic outlook has augmented the need for IT staff to achieve IT cost savings and improve efficiency. At the same time they have to support architecture modernization and handle multi-cloud. Network automation has become a top priority but is challenging to move forward. IDC’s 2023 Global Network Automation survey found the main technical inhibitors to be tool integration, legacy systems, and lack of trusted network data repositories.

What’s Required
Without a Network Source of Truth (NSoT), network data remains siloed and fragmented across the organization. This hinders organizations from managing the lifecycle of network objects and devices easily and efficiently. It also affects sharing of accurate information across networking and security ecosystem components.

How DDI Helps
A smart DDI solution with built-in NSoT and open APIs is a key success factor to Network Automation. Ideally the DDI should perform dynamic discovery across environments to feed the NSoT. It serves as a true Network Automation Hub that pulls and pushes actionable data through automated workflows. More than 80% of enterprises acknowledge the importance of Network Source of Truth in their automation strategy. Benefits seen include faster service deployments, reduced operating costs, and improved network capacity planning.

4. Improved quality of open APIs to enhance agility of IT and NetOps teams 

Current Situation
APIs have become essential and hence widely adopted. They deliver data back and forth to interconnect the entire IT infrastructure, devices, and applications ecosystem, orchestrate business workflows, streamline IT processes, and manage end-to-end lifecycle of network objects. Everywhere you look, you’ll find an API enabling network automation to make your IT, NetOps, and DevOps teams more agile, innovative, and efficient. But concerns still remain around their quality and management, where sheer volume of APIs results in technical debt and zombie APIs.

What’s Required
APIs have the potential to bring operational efficiency and ultimately cost savings, especially as they enable network automation. But achieving that potential requires them to meet key criteria, in particular high performance, security, the ability to handle network complexity, and reasonable licensing costs.

How DDI Helps
DDI APIs play a central role in network automation and security, leveraging valuable DNS, DHCP and IPAM data and metadata. This allows IT staff to reap tangible benefits very quickly. By putting DDI at the center of their network automation strategy and leveraging DDI APIs, networking teams can optimize and accelerate their daily operational activities. Example use cases include lifecycle management of network objects from provisioning to decommissioning, (including compute and VM deployment automation), policy enforcement, DNS security alerting, and discovery of devices connected to SD-WAN infrastructure such as Cisco Meraki. A recent EMA report showed that 44% already integrate DDI with network security tools, and 41% with ITSM systems like ServiceNow.

5. Fast-growing number of AI use cases for AIOps and cybersecurity

Current Situation
For effective network operations and security, in particular for detection and correction of anomalies, data-driven decisions are now compulsory. 2023 saw continued progress in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) applications, with a focus on improved algorithms, automation, and integration of AI into various industries and services. These led to a wide range of innovative applications, such as early detection of diseases for healthcare, and real-time detection of fraudulent activities in the finance sector. As well as the obvious AIOps use cases, the one usage common AI across all industries is for enhancing cybersecurity.

What’s Required
For their NetOps, organizations struggle to manage the growing number of alerts across monitoring tools. Leveraging AIOps to more accurately identify and prioritize issues and alerts can bring organizations significant savings in time and human capital. Anomaly detection using ML models highlights unusual patterns in network traffic, helping identify misconfigurations as well as detect and prevent cyber threats.

How DDI Helps
DDI solutions are able to harness the power of AI to streamline network operations and fortify DNS security via intelligent threat detection, predictive analysis, and automated response and mitigation. AI-powered algorithms can analyze DNS traffic and accurately detect anomalies or potential cyberthreats such as phishing or DGAs. By continuously monitoring DNS activity and establishing baseline behavior, suspicious patterns such as DNS tunneling or data exfiltration attempts can be quickly identified. Automated response capability then ensures swift and effective mitigation of DNS-based attacks, reducing the impact on network infrastructure and enhancing the overall security posture.

2024 promises to be a rich year for IT innovation. To learn more about how EfficientIP’s SOLIDserver DDI can help you better control your IT infrastructure, feel free to contact one of our Network Automation and Security experts.

Organizations are faced with two pressing security concerns today. Poor visibility over IT network activity has made them increasingly difficult to manage. And at the same time, cybercriminals are launching more attacks, often exploiting DNS, and using diverse tactics designed to exploit this lack of visibility. To address these challenges, EfficientIP is announcing the commercial launch of two groundbreaking products: DNS Intelligence Center (DNS IC) and DDI Observability Center (DDI OC). Read on to discover how they leverage DNS threat intelligence and DDI monitoring to fortify your network security and operations.

How the complexity of modern networks is harming visibility and observability

With the advent of Multi Cloud, IoT, and device proliferation, IT networks have become increasingly complex. It’s now very hard for organizations to gain effective visibility of such a multifaceted network landscape. According to a recent Q3 2023 report by EMA, most organizations only have full visibility into 40% or less of their technology stack.

This lack of visibility creates significant gaps in observability, making it difficult for IT teams to monitor the state and performance of their architectures, or to detect and respond to threats successfully. Without comprehensive observability, organizations are essentially navigating their networks in the dark, increasing the risk of undetected cyber threats or business downtime.

The rising tide of cyber threats

The cyber threat landscape has grown increasingly hostile in recent years. It’s estimated that there was a 38% increase in the global volume of cyberattacks last year. This includes more than 40 million ransomware attacks per month, a staggering 500 million phishing attacks over last year, and more than a billion instances of malware.

Threat actors are also continually developing and refining their techniques to slip through defenses, often exploiting DNS. The IDC 2023 DNS Threat Report found that 90% of companies surveyed have experienced one or more DNS-based attacks, a trend that shows no signs of abating.

The impact of DNS-based attacks

The critical role DNS plays in facilitating communication between devices on a network makes it an ideal target for cyberattacks. As a result, DNS is being actively exploited in a growing number of attack strategies. IDC found that 85% of malware actors are using DNS to develop their attacks, the most common being DNS phishing, ransomware and data theft. The average cost of a DNS-based attack is estimated to be $1.1 million. In addition, the reputational damage and loss of customer trust can have long-lasting effects.

To combat this ever-increasing risk, EfficientIP has developed its DNS Intelligence Center which provides enhanced visibility into networks, critical for today’s complex environments.

Introducing DNS Intelligence Center (DNS IC)

DNS Intelligence Center (DNS IC) is EfficientIP’s groundbreaking solution to the pressing issues of network complexity and the rise in DNS-based attacks. Designed as a cloud-based visualization service, DNS IC serves as a cornerstone in fortifying your organization’s DNS security solutions.

What sets DNS IC apart is its ability to provide insightful, actionable, and reliable analytics directly to CISOs, SOC, and security teams. This is achieved through a range of features designed to enhance DNS-centric threat intelligence. For instance, DNS IC can detect threats in near real-time by matching domain names from our unique DNS Threat Intelligence data with your organization’s DNS traffic. This provides invaluable contextual information that significantly accelerates the process of threat investigation and remediation.

Furthermore, the platform also allows for detailed, effortless investigation of domain names by offering insights and intelligence that include Indicators of Compromise (IoCs) and risk scoring. This enables security teams to quickly assess the malicious intent of a domain, accelerating threat detection and enhancing threat prevention.

EfficientIP’s DNS IC is designed to not only proactively defend organizations against damaging DNS-based attacks, but to facilitate integrations with existing security infrastructures, automating responses and fostering a more agile defense ecosystem. Leveraging AI-based and patented technology infrastructure, DNS IC meticulously analyzes DNS traffic to pre-emptively identify potential threats, ensuring robust compliance and network resilience.

In tandem with DNS Firewall, DNS Guardian and Client Query Filtering (CQF), DNS IC orchestrates a symphony of adaptive countermeasures, offering a proactive stance against evolving cyber threats.

DNS IC is built on an enterprise-grade platform that is highly scalable and sustainable, capable of absorbing any volume of DNS data. This ensures that the platform can adapt to the unique needs and architectures of any customer profile. By leveraging modern cloud technologies, DNS IC enables organizations to build an efficient, DNS-centric intelligence strategy, proactively detect cyber threats, and effortlessly investigate threats across their networks on a global scale.

Complement DNS Intelligence with DDI Observability for Comprehensive Network Observation

While DNS IC is a robust visualization portal for DNS Threat Intelligence, its capabilities are further enhanced when used in conjunction with DDI Observability Center (DDI OC). Another newly launched product from EfficientIP, DDI OC focuses on providing observability on the network side, offering consolidated, accurate, and up-to-date telemetry and analytics across any DDI architecture. By working together, these two products offer a comprehensive solution for investigating potential threats, ensuring that both network security and network performance are optimally managed.

EfficientIP’s DNS IC and DDI OC offer a powerful  solution against escalating cyber threats and increasingly complex networks. It’s time to stop navigating your networks in the dark! Get in touch to find out how our new solutions can illuminate your path.

Telecommunications is everywhere, enabling businesses across all industries to collaborate, and employees to communicate. Compounded by 5G and IoT, telcos manage increasingly complex infrastructures and store a large amount of sensitive data. It’s therefore no wonder they are the highest attacked vertical, as confirmed by IDC’s 2023 DNS Threat Report. From personal use to government level, proactive protection of telco networks is critical. For this, insights gained from DNS Threat Intelligence are now recognized as being foundational.

Ever-Evolving Networks Increase Threat Potential: DNS Plays a Critical Role for Mitigation

Networks of today’s communications service providers (CSPs) now span private, public and hybrid clouds, incorporating Multi-access Edge locations. Consequently, the potential for security threats has increased dramatically. The expanding number of access points resulting from widespread deployment of devices outside the traditional datacenter has created a huge threat surface exploitable by cybercriminals. Any service failure or data breach resulting from a cyberattack causes substantial reputational as well as financial damage. 

On top of endpoint protection, security teams are required to overcome blind spots, minimize false alerts, proactively identify areas of risk, and execute investigation and response activities in a timely manner. For that, they require expanded visibility in order to identify modern threats, simplify investigations, and accelerate efficient incident response.

Smart DNS security plays a critical role for the above aspects, helping enable better threat mitigation. Every internet communication begins with a DNS request, and malware relies on DNS for communications. With this superior visibility over network traffic, DNS therefore becomes your natural first line of defense, offering an opportunity to detect, very early, threat activity missed by other solutions. Even evasion techniques such as tunnels, lookalike URLs, or Demand Generation Algorithms (DGA) are able to be exposed. Adding DNS-centric threat intelligence and analytics to a DNS server allows blocking of resolution or connection to websites known to be hosting malware. Additionally, data exfiltration over DNS can be stopped at the source.

Rising Frequency of DNS Attacks Enhances Risk of Service Downtime and Customer Churn

Amongst the key challenges faced by telcos and ISPs today are ensuring secure data transmission and preventing unauthorized access. The distributed, remote workforce, together with IoT device explosion brought by 5G, have significantly increased the attack surface. So network security has unsurprisingly become the top investment priority for telcos, now involving many elements, not least of all DNS. Once DNS is compromised, cybercriminals can use it as a vector to launch attacks, extract data, disrupt services and cause extreme financial damage.

The latest IDC Threat Report offers some alarming stats, showing that 94% of CSPs are victims of DNS attacks, each suffering on average 7.9 attacks per year. The average cost per attack is $1.2M, the 2nd highest,  behind only the finance sector. 

The main attack types used against telcos include:

• Phishing 49%
• DDoS 40%
• DNS Tunneling 37%
• Ransomware 36%

Impacts of DNS attacks have proven to be very severe, ranging from application downtime, Cloud service downtime and data theft, to brand damage. With the numbers rising year after year, it’s really time for telcos to take action if they want to avoid service downtime or prevent customer churn. Many of the current defenses being used, such as shutting down the DNS service or disabling affected apps, are inappropriate. In addition, the lack of automation for management of network security policies is worrying. 38% still use mainly manual processes for this, leading to inaccurate or inconsistent policy deployment, as well as inefficiency. 

Fortunately some good initiatives are also being taken. 53% of telcos add filtering rules on DNS servers to block requests on specific DNS records, and 44% make use of auto remediation from a security solution. 

Protect against Ransomware and Data Theft with DNS Analytics and DNS Filtering

By leveraging purpose-built DNS Security which delivers automatic monitoring, service providers can take an important step towards proactive threat detection. Analysis of DNS traffic helps identify unusual patterns of traffic, unveiling for instance unknown (zero-day) malicious domains being used by ransomware for data exfiltration. Unfortunately, only 43% of telcos are currently using DNS Security for Ransomware protection, far below the average of 54% across all industries.

In addition, DNS filtering is an effective way to thwart an attack before it causes any damage. Access to known malicious domains is blocked,  thus preventing ransomware from communicating with its command and control (CnC) servers. DNS filtering also enables blocking of access to known phishing sites, which helps prevent ransomware attacks being initiated in the first place.

Why DNS Threat Intelligence is a Cornerstone of Network Security

Threat intelligence has emerged as a pivotal aspect of cybersecurity defense, with 61% of telcos considering it a vital component of their strategy to defend against cyberattacks. For developing their attack, 85% of malware use DNS, making specialized DNS Threat Intelligence a foundational component of an effective security strategy for any organization. 

Disappointingly, DNS data is being severely underutilized by CSPs. 43% of telcos perform no analysis on their DNS data, and only 14% use it today for Threat Intelligence. This is the lowest number across all verticals.

A DNS feed is a key component of DNS Threat Intelligence – as stated by IDC in the report: “For an effective threat intelligence strategy, making use of a DNS threat intelligence feed is a no brainer”. By implementing and offering this proactive level of defense benefiting from the latest developments in AI/ML, telcos can meet growing customer demand for better protection against phishing and malware. Greater filtering capability for usages such as parental control is also made possible. This will help improve customer satisfaction, while contributing to compliance with security regulations.

Advanced DNS Protection for Service Providers Maintains Service Availability: DNS Threat Intelligence is Key

Service degradations and outages, caused for example by DDoS attacks targeting DNS infrastructure, are a significant cause of subscriber churn. Among the security tools available to telcos, nothing is as cost-effective as DNS. EfficientIP is a leader in DNS security with its secure DNS caching, real-time analytics, behavioral threat detection, adaptive countermeasures, and massive volume of DNS intelligence data. 

Valuable security event information and contextual data can be automatically shared with multiple vendor platforms such as NAC, SIEM or SOAR tools. Consequently, SecOps efforts are significantly reduced, resulting in simplified, accelerated remediation.
EfficientIP’s smart DNS Security solutions for CSPs help maintain service availability and performance to enhance UX and customer loyalty. Without a doubt, leveraging SOLIDserver DNS Security will help you move smoothly from reactive to proactive defense.

The need for robust, scalable, and innovative DDI solutions has never been more critical as networks grow increasingly complex. The 2023 GigaOm Radar for DDI provides crucial guidance for enterprises searching for the right DNS, DHCP, and IPAM solutions.

We’re proud to announce the report ranks EfficientIP as a Leader and Outperformer, positioning us as one of the top three DDI providers. In this blog, we’ll cover the significance of this ranking, delve into the nuances of the report, and explore why EfficientIP’s SOLIDserver solution is the linchpin for modern network management and security.

The GigaOm Radar report: what it is and why it matters

This year is the second annual GigaOm Radar for DDI, offering an exhaustive evaluation of DDI vendors that goes far beyond mere rankings. This report employs an evaluation matrix that scrutinizes vendors based on a range of criteria. Most fields mark vendors as exceptional, capable, limited, or not applicable, with scores displayed across easily read grids.

The report serves as a roadmap for success, equipping IT teams with actionable insights for aligning with their business objectives and technological needs. Whether you are an enterprise looking to overhaul your existing DDI infrastructure or a startup seeking to implement a solution from scratch, the Radar provides the clarity and direction needed to make the right choices.

A closer look at EfficientIP’s ranking and value proposition

This ranking is a strong endorsement of our SOLIDserver DDI solution’s unique all-in-one technology, which is highly scalable, open, robust, and cost-effective.

These factors have become increasingly valuable as network infrastructure becomes more complicated. According to IDC’s European multicloud surveys, around 85% of organizations operate hybrid cloud environments while 67% run multicloud environments, whose adoption will continue to rise. 

This is where a solid DDI solution is essential for managing the challenges that come with this model.

With this in mind, flexibility is a key factor, and the report assesses three main DDI delivery models – integrated, overlay, and managed DDI. We were one of only five vendors to tick all three boxes.

Further, we were also marked as exceptional in several areas of market segments and deployment models, and capable in all others. This includes our performance in the network service provider (NSP) and large enterprise market segments, as well as our capabilities in on-prem software and virtual delivery and private and public cloud.

In other key criteria, GigaOm called us out as exceptional in integrated security, automation & orchestration, and support for API and IPv6. The report also highlighted our solution’s availability, flexibility, interoperability, and manageability, and we were among the few to be marked as exceptional for Zero Trust capabilities. 

The Zero Trust security model, which implements a risk-based approach to network access based on the principle “trust nothing, verify everything,” has become a central strategy for securing complex IT environments. Leading market analysts such as Gartner consistently place Zero Trust as a key priority.

To meet these latest market needs, our solution is designed to be more than just a DDI service provider. It’s a comprehensive network management and security platform that addresses multiple challenges. From ensuring robust security frameworks to facilitating seamless network automation and cloud integration, the solution is built to be a cornerstone in your IT infrastructure.

The strength of EfficientIP’s DDI solutions all-in-one approach

We aim to empower IT teams to view, connect, automate, control, and secure their infrastructures – whether on-prem, multi-cloud, or hybrid—from a unified, consistent, centralized management interface.

This integrated model is increasingly valuable for organizations looking to optimize their IT spending and management resources. IT investments continue to climb, but businesses need to make every penny count with the economic downturn.

GigaOm highlighted the strength of our unified, streamlined approach, stating:

“Simplifying architectures and reducing the number of servers, EfficientIP’s all-in-one appliances offer layered functionality automatically deployed and managed via EfficientIP’s embedded SmartArchitecture templates as a system rather than a collection of individual entities, unifying management of multivendor DNS/DHCP services. A unified API-first approach and consistent UI across all products offers single-pane-of-glass management with holistic search capabilities, increasing usability and enhancing the user experience.”

Numerous case studies highlight the value of these capabilities, demonstrating how organizations in industries from retail and manufacturing to telcos and higher education have leveraged our solution.

Our edge over the competition for DDI Solutions

Our ranking as a Leader and Outperformer sets us apart in a market teeming with DDI solutions. But how do we stack up against other big names in the field? Our competitive edge is multi-faceted and rooted in our commitment to innovation and adaptability.

The report noted that other market leaders were held back by more costly solutions coupled with rigid architecture or lacked seamless integration for key functions like DNS security. EfficientIP’s cost-effectiveness in deploying optimized, reliable, and scalable DDI architectures resolving complexity was remarked upon.

Our competitive positioning is not just about outperforming other vendors; it’s about offering a more holistic, innovative, and flexible solution that caters to a wide array of market segments and deployment models. Whether you are a small business or a large enterprise, our DDI solutions are designed to meet your specific needs, offering scalability and customisation that many competitors can’t match.

Why choose EfficientIP? The key market drivers

The need for end-to-end support covering on-premise and multi-cloud architectures is paramount today. According to the recent EMA report on DDI, hybrid cloud, network automation, and multi-cloud migration are the top initiatives pushing IT organizations to invest in DDI solutions. EfficientIP’s SOLIDserver solution perfectly aligns with these key market drivers and requirements as well as Zero Trust security frameworks and DNS/DHCP overlay delivery models. Our platform offers a unified, feature-rich, and highly customizable approach to managing these diverse and often fragmented network architectures.

Our solution is not just about technology but solving real-world challenges. Whether it’s the need for seamless network automation or the growing demand for proactive security in an era of increasing cyber threats, EfficientIP is ahead of the curve. Focusing on innovation and adaptability allows us to meet the needs of organizations looking to future-proof their network infrastructures.

The 2023 GigaOm Radar for DDI report is a testament to EfficientIP’s leadership and innovation. We encourage you to download the full report to understand why EfficientIP is the best long-term ROI choice for your network transformation needs. Furthermore, we invite you to engage with us for a personalized consultation to explore how our solutions can meet your specific challenges.

With IT staff struggling to protect legacy networks on tight budgets, it’s no wonder schools and universities are top targets for cybercriminals. Sprawling campuses handling BYoD and multiple IoT devices, together with frequent ransomware attacks and compliance regulations add to the difficulty. The 2023 IDC Threat Survey found that 90% of institutions each suffer on average 8 DNS attacks per year, with every attack costing $1.15M in damages. The report goes on to provide recommendations on how Higher Ed can evolve to proactive defense using DNS Threat Intelligence, in order to enhance ransomware detection and zero trust.

Why is Higher Education a favorite target?

Universities handle a wealth of personal and research data, intellectual property and other valuable assets. This makes them enticing for state-sponsored actors, as well as cybercriminals looking to monetise stolen material through sale or ransom. Compliance frameworks also complexify security. Many regulations focus on data safety, while others enforce freedom of information.

Institutions are having to handle distance-learning in the midst of the return to in-person learning. The online platforms required for this are often targeted as new entry points into academic networks. At the same time, staff and students connect multiple personal devices to university networks, many of which are outdated or incorrectly patched against known vulnerabilities. Lastly, recent vulnerabilities such as Log4j also opened up institutions to more attacks, affecting websites, apps, devices and digital systems across the campus. 

Sadly, Higher Ed institutions don’t have the same resources as other industries, so have become an easier target.  IT teams are left with few tools and professionals to adequately protect against the rise in frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks. Bad actors have therefore increased breaches such as phishing, malware, ransomware and data theft. Many of these benefit from using DNS as a threat target or vector.

With DNS Attacks on the rise, it’s time to take DNS Security seriously

90% of schools and universities were victims of DNS attacks according to the IDC Threat Report, with damage costs and recovery times being higher than the average across industries. Top attack types included phishing, ransomware, DDoS, and DNS Tunneling (CnC communication/data exfiltration). 

Impacts of DNS attacks proved to be very serious, affecting productivity, brand image and finances. They included:

• Cloud service downtime (46%)
• In-house app downtime (39%)
• Data theft (28%)

In addition, the defenses being used to counteract are inappropriate for ensuring continuity of services. 41% shut down the DNS service, 37% disabled the affected apps, and 26% shut down part of network infrastructure.

IDC Report Highlights: DNS Threat Intelligence enables proactive defense

The IDC report shows that 84% of Higher Ed regard DNS Security as critical for ensuring the security of users, devices, applications, and services. It is viewed as important for the implementation of security concepts such as Threat Intelligence, Zero Trust and Shadow IT. 

Below are some of the key highlights from the report:

DNS Threat Intelligence

• Threat intelligence (TI) has emerged as a pivotal aspect of cybersecurity defense, with 65% of higher education considering it a vital component of their strategy to defend against cyberattacks
• There is a definite need for specialized DNS Threat Intelligence, incorporating DNS Feeds
• For TI, the market sees value of actionable DNS data for:
  • Malware detection – 74%
  • Phishing detection – 77%
  • Ransomware detection – 73%
  • Improved Access Control to apps and data – 51%
• But DNS data is being underutilized – 43% of Higher Ed do not perform any analysis their DNS data, and only 19% use it today for TI

Ransomware

• Average remediation cost for Higher Ed was $1.42M in 2021, with 85% of malware using DNS to develop their attack
• Analysis of DNS traffic helps identify unusual patterns of traffic to unveil zero-day malicious domains used for data exfiltration by ransomware

• Only 47% of Higher Ed use or consider using DNS security for ransomware and malware protection, far below the 54% average across industries
• DNS Filtering can block access to known malicious domains, preventing ransomware from communicating with its CnC servers, thus preventing the attack causing any damage
• DNS Filtering can also be used to block access to known phishing sites, helping prevent initiation of ransomware attacks

Data Theft

• Institutions are challenged with meeting compliance for data protection and data privacy regulations such as GDPR and NIS2
• DNS is a valuable tool for helping organizations achieve regulatory compliance by providing domain filtering, data privacy, logging and analysis, compliance reporting on DNS  traffic, and overall boosted security measure
• DNS strengthens data protection by filling gaps left by traditional security systems
• 53% of Higher Ed say DNS security can help prevent data exfiltration by detecting improper DNS flow and blocking related traffic. Average across all industries is 59%
• Private DNS over HTTPS (DoH) improves data privacy by encrypting DNS traffic and preventing unauthorized access to DNS data

Securing Extended Networks

WIth Higher Education networks having to support connected devices, cloud services/apps, and “work-from-anywhere”, DNS is seen as critical in securing:

• On-prem workforce – 83%
• Remote workforce – 83%
• IoT – 57%
• Cloud – 84%
• Datacenters – 65%

Key Recommendations

1. Leverage DNS threat intelligence feeds to help you evolve to proactive defense
2. Benefit from DNS observability to strengthen your security posture
3. Incorporate DNS data into your security ecosystem to accelerate threat remediation