What Is DNS Hijacking?

DNS hijacking, sometimes called DNS redirection, is a sneaky type of cyberattack where hackers mess with the Domain Name System (DNS) to secretly redirect your internet traffic. Instead of taking you to the website you intended to visit, they send you to a malicious site—often one that looks legitimate but is designed to steal your information or install malware.

Here’s a simple way to think about it: when you type a web address like www.example.com into your browser, your device uses DNS to figure out the actual IP address of that website. DNS hijacking happens when attackers tamper with this process. They might infect your computer, compromise your home router, or even hack into the DNS server itself to reroute your traffic without your knowledge.

There are a few common ways this attack plays out:

• Router Hijacking – where an attacker changes your router’s DNS settings to point to malicious servers.
• Man-in-the-Middle Attacks – where your connection is intercepted and DNS responses are altered on the fly.
• Compromised DNS Servers – where hackers gain access to legitimate DNS servers and modify domain records.

The end goal is usually the same: to trick users into handing over sensitive data or to deliver malware in the background.

How to Protect Yourself from DNS Hijacking

The good news? You can take some straightforward steps to guard against DNS hijacking and keep your online traffic safe. Here’s how:

1. Enable DNS Security Features
   If you're using enterprise-level security tools, like Palo Alto Networks Advanced DNS Security, enable features that monitor and block suspicious DNS traffic in real time.
2. Use Antivirus and Anti-Malware Tools
   A good security suite can detect and block malware that tries to alter your DNS settings.
3. Turn on Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
   For online accounts, especially admin-level or network accounts, use MFA to add an extra layer of protection in case credentials are compromised through DNS hijacking.
4. Monitor DNS Traffic
   For organisations, monitoring outbound DNS requests can help spot unusual behaviour that might signal a hijack attempt.
5. Monitor DNS Settings Regularly
   Palo Alto Networks provides a solution to analyse domains for misconfigurations. Misconfigured domains are inadvertently created by domain owners who point alias records to third-party domains using CNAME, MX, NS record types, using entries that are no longer valid, allowing an attacker to take over the domain by registering the expired or unused domains. (TLDs (top-level domains) and root level domains cannot be added to the DNS Zone Misconfigurations list.)