What Are the Top 10 DNS Attack Types in 2025? Full Guide with Examples, Techniques, and Prevention

Table of Contents

• What Is a DNS Attack?
• Why DNS Attacks Matter in 2025
• Top 10 DNS Attack Types (2025 Edition)
•  DNS Attack Types at a Glance
• How to Protect Against DNS Attacks
• Conclusion
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The Domain Name System (DNS) is a crucial backbone of the internet that translates human-readable domain names into machine-friendly IP addresses. However, this essential service is also a prime target for cyber attackers. In this blog, we’ll walk through the top 10 DNS attack types, how they work, and how organizations can protect themselves.

What Is a DNS Attack?

A DNS attack is a cyberattack targeting vulnerabilities in the Domain Name System. Attackers exploit DNS to hijack traffic, disrupt services, or exfiltrate sensitive data. These attacks can lead to data breaches, website outages, and reputational damage.

Why DNS Attacks Matter in 2025

According to recent cybersecurity reports, 90% of malware uses DNS in its kill chain, while 95% of organizations still underestimate DNS security risks. With encrypted DNS protocols gaining popularity, traditional security measures are often blind to DNS-based threats.

Top 10 DNS Attack Types (2025 Edition)

1. DNS Cache Poisoning Attack

Also known as DNS spoofing, this attack corrupts the DNS cache by injecting false DNS records. It redirects users to malicious websites without altering the original domain names.

Example: Redirecting bank.com to a phishing site that looks identical to the original.

2. DNS Hijacking

DNS hijacking occurs when an attacker takes control of DNS settings either by compromising a DNS server or modifying the client’s local settings.

Impact: Users are unknowingly routed through malicious DNS servers, exposing them to man-in-the-middle attacks.

3. TCP SYN Floods

While not exclusive to DNS, TCP SYN floods overwhelm DNS servers with half-open TCP connections, leading to service disruption.

Technique: Sending thousands of SYN packets without completing the handshake process.

4. Random Subdomain Attack

Attackers bombard DNS servers with queries for non-existent subdomains, overwhelming resources and causing outages.

Example: Repeated requests like x1abc.example.com, x2abc.example.com, etc., that don’t exist.

5. Phantom Domain Attack

Attackers create phantom domains that absorb DNS resolver resources. When queried, these domains never respond, causing legitimate queries to time out.

Use Case: Slowing down or disabling DNS resolution for an entire organization.

6. Domain Hijacking

Domain hijacking involves gaining unauthorized control over a domain registrar account, allowing attackers to change DNS records or steal web traffic.

Result: Complete control over the targeted organization’s web presence.

7. Botnet-Based DNS Attack

Botnets use large networks of infected devices to launch DNS attacks, amplifying their scale and difficulty to mitigate.

Real-world Example: The Mirai botnet targeting DNS services like Dyn in 2016.

8. DNS Tunneling

DNS tunneling hides malicious payloads or stolen data inside DNS queries and responses, bypassing traditional firewalls and proxies.

Why It’s Dangerous: Often used for data exfiltration or establishing covert channels.

9. DNS Flood Attack

A type of Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack where massive volumes of DNS requests are sent to a server, making it unavailable to legitimate users.

Defense: Rate limiting and DNS traffic filtering.

10. Distributed Reflection Denial of Service (DRDoS)

Attackers exploit misconfigured DNS servers to reflect amplified traffic towards a victim, overwhelming their network bandwidth.

Amplification Factor: A small query can trigger a massive response, intensifying the attack impact.

 DNS Attack Types at a Glance

How to Protect Against DNS Attacks

• Implement DNSSEC (DNS Security Extensions)

• Use Rate Limiting and Traffic Filtering

• Monitor DNS Logs Regularly

• Configure Firewalls to Block Unauthorized DNS Traffic

• Apply Strong Authentication on Domain Registrar Accounts

• Deploy DNS-Specific Security Tools (e.g., Infoblox, Cisco Umbrella)

Conclusion

As cyber threats evolve in 2025, DNS remains both a critical utility and a prime attack vector. By understanding these attack types and implementing layered security measures, organizations can significantly reduce their DNS-related risk exposure.

 FAQs

What are the top 10 DNS attack types in 2025?

The top 10 DNS attack types in 2025 include DNS Cache Poisoning, DNS Hijacking, TCP SYN Floods, Random Subdomain Attack, Phantom Domain Attack, Domain Hijacking, Botnet-Based Attack, DNS Tunneling, DNS Flood Attack, and Distributed Reflection Denial of Service (DRDoS).

What is DNS Cache Poisoning?

DNS Cache Poisoning is an attack where attackers insert false DNS records into a server's cache, redirecting users to malicious sites without changing the actual domain.

How does DNS Hijacking work?

DNS Hijacking works by altering DNS settings on a device or server to redirect traffic to malicious websites, often used for phishing or data theft.

What is a TCP SYN Flood in DNS?

A TCP SYN Flood targets DNS servers by overwhelming them with partial connection requests, causing denial-of-service conditions.

What is a Random Subdomain Attack?

Random Subdomain Attacks overload DNS servers by sending continuous queries for non-existent subdomains, exhausting server resources.

What is Phantom Domain Attack?

A Phantom Domain Attack uses domains that never respond to DNS requests, tying up resolver resources and causing delays or outages.

What is Domain Hijacking?

Domain Hijacking is when attackers gain control of a domain registrar account to change DNS records, steal traffic, or shut down services.

How do Botnets launch DNS attacks?

Botnets launch DNS attacks by using large networks of infected devices to send overwhelming amounts of DNS requests, often as part of DDoS attacks.

What is DNS Tunneling?

DNS Tunneling hides malicious data or exfiltrated information inside DNS queries, bypassing firewalls and security monitoring tools.

How does a DNS Flood Attack work?

A DNS Flood Attack sends massive volumes of DNS queries to overwhelm a server, causing denial of service to legitimate users.

What is Distributed Reflection Denial of Service (DRDoS)?

DRDoS amplifies attack traffic by exploiting open DNS resolvers to reflect and magnify traffic towards a target, disrupting services.

Why is DNS security important?

DNS security is important because DNS is a core internet service. Attacks on DNS can disrupt websites, leak data, or reroute users to dangerous destinations.

How to detect DNS attacks?

You can detect DNS attacks by monitoring DNS logs, identifying unusual query patterns, checking for unauthorized DNS changes, and using security tools like DNS firewalls.

What tools help prevent DNS attacks?

DNS security tools like Cisco Umbrella, Infoblox, Akamai Enterprise Threat Protector, and cloud-based DNS filtering solutions help prevent DNS attacks.

What is DNSSEC and how does it help?

DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions) adds cryptographic signatures to DNS records, helping prevent DNS spoofing and cache poisoning.

Can encrypted DNS prevent attacks?

Encrypted DNS like DNS over HTTPS (DoH) protects privacy but doesn't fully prevent DNS attacks. It may also make some attacks harder to detect.

What industries are most affected by DNS attacks?

Industries like finance, government, healthcare, and technology are often prime targets for DNS attacks due to the value of their services and data.

How often do DNS attacks occur?

According to 2025 reports, DNS attacks are among the top five most common cyberattacks globally, affecting millions of organizations yearly.

How does DNS hijacking affect users?

DNS hijacking can lead users to phishing websites, exposing their personal information and login credentials without them noticing.

What’s the difference between DNS Tunneling and DNS Flooding?

DNS Tunneling hides malicious payloads in DNS queries, while DNS Flooding overloads servers with large volumes of DNS requests to cause outages.

What is a real-world example of a DNS-based attack?

The 2016 Dyn DNS DDoS attack, which disrupted major websites like Twitter and Netflix, is a famous example of a DNS-based attack.

Are small businesses at risk of DNS attacks?

Yes, small businesses are increasingly targeted through automated DNS attack tools and weak DNS security configurations.

Can antivirus software stop DNS attacks?

Antivirus software alone cannot stop DNS attacks. Dedicated DNS filtering and monitoring solutions are required for proper protection.

How to secure DNS servers?

Secure DNS servers by enabling DNSSEC, using access controls, implementing rate limiting, regularly patching, and monitoring DNS traffic.

What is the role of firewalls in DNS security?

Firewalls help by filtering DNS traffic, blocking unauthorized requests, and identifying potential DNS-based attacks before they cause damage.

How do hackers use botnets in DNS attacks?

Hackers use botnets to automate large-scale DNS attacks, especially in DDoS scenarios, making detection and mitigation harder.

What happens if a DNS attack is successful?

A successful DNS attack can lead to service downtime, financial losses, theft of sensitive data, reputational damage, and user trust issues.

How does DNS monitoring work?

DNS monitoring involves tracking DNS traffic for anomalies, unusual patterns, and unauthorized queries using specialized tools and analytics.

Are there government regulations for DNS security?

Yes, many countries now require critical infrastructure organizations to follow DNS security standards under national cybersecurity frameworks.

What is DNS Amplification Attack?

DNS Amplification is a type of DRDoS where attackers send small queries that generate large responses, overloading the victim’s network.

How to report a DNS attack?

You can report a DNS attack to your ISP, national cybersecurity agencies like CERT, or use security platforms to notify affected services.