New CSC Research Finds One in Five DNS Records are Susceptible to Subdomain Hijacking Due to Insufficient Cyber Hygiene

Company launches first Subdomain Monitoring solution to provide actionable intelligence on dangling DNS records

WILMINGTON, Del. — CSC, an enterprise-class domain registrar and world leader in mitigating domain and domain name system (DNS) threats, today released its “Subdomain Hijacking Vulnerabilities Report” that reviewed over 440,000 DNS records and found that over 21% of DNS records point to content that does not resolve, leaving many companies vulnerable to subdomain hijacking. Additionally, over 277,000 (63%) show error status codes such as “404 not found” or “502 bad gateway.”

DNS records housekeeping is historically one of the most frequently neglected tasks due to a long history of different owners, policies, and vendors. Digital records accumulate over time, and administrators who may be unaware of each domain’s history are hesitant to delete legacy records fearing they may be tied to critical infrastructure. This buildup of inactive zones that do not point to content are known as “dangling DNS” and are at risk of subdomain hijacking. Subdomain hijacking is where an attacker gains control of a legitimate subdomain that is no longer in use to host their own fraudulent or malicious content. This opens a gateway for other cyberattacks such as phishing, malware, and ransomware.

“With 21% of major organizations vulnerable to subdomain hijacking, we needed to ensure a way for our clients to secure their online ecosystem from an array of threats that could jeopardize long-term brand integrity,” says Ihab Shraim, chief technology officer of CSC’s Digital Brand Services. “This is why CSC is introducing its new Subdomain Monitoring and Enforcement product—the first and only technology in the market to ease the burden of tracking and maintaining DNS records and purging unused zone records to prevent a subdomain hijack. With this technology, enterprises can proactively disrupt criminals who previously attempted to target their customers, employees, and partners, and mitigate the threat targeting their brands.”

The Subdomain Monitoring and Enforcement technology is powered by CSC’s one-of-a-kind DomainSec^SM threat intelligence platform, and alerts DNS administrators and security engineers when changes to their zone records are detected. It also provides context on those changes so organizations can take informed actions to prevent future subdomain hijacking and conduct enforcement takedowns. With this solution, enterprises can clean up legacy records over time, and easily integrate with the DomainSec platform. This solution for domain management, brand protection, and anti-fraud solutions provides greater visibility on threat vectors targeting global domain portfolios.

“Organizations with diverse brand portfolios and global operations are often unaware of the scale of their digital footprint as digital records accumulate over time, and this makes maintaining cyber hygiene a real challenge,” said Mark Calandra, president of CSC’s Digital Brand Services. “Many do not realize that critical vulnerabilities exist with subdomains. With our new Subdomain Monitoring technology, enterprises will have the visibility necessary to strengthen their DNS cyber hygiene and attack surface management while also having more effective measures in place to protect against cyberattacks.”

To learn more about CSC’s approach to domain security, visit cscdbs.com. Download the Subdomain Hijacking Vulnerabilities Report here.

About CSC

CSC is the trusted security and threat intelligence provider of choice for the Forbes Global 2000 and the 100 Best Global Brands^® in enterprise domain names, domain name system (DNS), digital certificate management, as well as digital brand and fraud protection. As global companies make significant investments in their security posture, CSC can help them understand known cybersecurity oversights that exist, and help them secure their online digital assets and brands. By leveraging CSC’s proprietary technology, companies can solidify their security posture to protect against cyber threat vectors targeting their online assets and brand reputation, helping them avoid devastating revenue loss, and significant financial penalties because of policies like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). CSC also provides online brand protection—the combination of online brand monitoring and enforcement activities—taking a holistic approach to digital asset protection, along with fraud protection services to combat phishing. Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, USA, since 1899, CSC has offices throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. CSC is a global company capable of doing business wherever our clients are—and we accomplish that by employing experts in every business we serve. Visit cscdbs.com.