July 19, 2026•By Marcus Vance, Security Lead

DNSSEC Explained: Protecting Your Domain Against Cache Poisoning and Spoofing

The Vulnerability of Unsigned DNS

Traditional DNS protocols communicate over unencrypted UDP without cryptographic signatures. This makes standard DNS lookups susceptible to DNS cache poisoning

How DNSSEC Works

DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) add an extra layer of authentication to DNS resolution by digitally signing records with public key cryptography:

RRSIG (Resource Record Signature): Contains cryptographic signatures for DNS record sets.

DNSKEY: Publishes the public key used by resolvers to verify RRSIG signatures.

DS (Delegation Signer): Placed in the parent zone (e.g. `.com` registry) to establish a continuous Chain of Trust from the root zone down to your domain.

Implementation Best Practices

1. Enable DNSSEC at Your DNS Host:

2. Publish the DS Record at Your Registrar:

3. Monitor Signature Expiry: