Dangling Danger: Why You Need to Focus on Your DNS Posture Management

Seems far-fetched? It’s not. DNS vulnerabilities are more common than you might think. 

For example, a major financial services company discovered in early 2025 that a DNS server name had a small typo — “.ne” instead of “.net”. This could have allowed a malicious actor to register the erroneous name and divert traffic intended for the company. Fortunately, the error was discovered in time to secure the domain, which, due to the typo, was administered by the top-level domain authority for the African country of Niger.

In a more nefarious example from January 2025, researchers discovered a massive, 13,000-device botnet exploiting DNS flaws that enabled it to spoof 20,000 domains. These were then used to send out emails from domains that appeared legitimate to deliver malware.

While examples like these grab headlines, perhaps the most common scenario is simply neglecting to remove CNAME records from your DNS zone.

The ubiquity of DNS records is key to understanding the threat. The Domain Name System is a fundamental component of the internet, directing traffic to its intended location. It’s not unusual for organizations to have thousands of DNS records associated with their domains and subdomains. 

When these records are not maintained properly or are misconfigured, they can end up pointing to a resource that no longer exists. That can open the door for a malicious actor to claim it.

Adding to the risk is the fact that DNS records are public. Anyone can use a DNS lookup tool to view all DNS records, including the CNAME, for a particular domain name. It doesn’t require sophisticated tools or techniques to identify a dangling CNAME — and a potential opening to seize the traffic to it.

Given the potential risk, paying more attention to your DNS security posture should be a priority. That starts with gaining greater visibility over your entire DNS infrastructure.

Easier said than done. That’s because evolving network architectures and hybrid cloud and multicloud deployments often involve multiple disparate DNS systems and teams that increase complexity. Shadow IT, cloud migrations, and acquisitions compound the challenge, creating undocumented DNS zones and records, reducing visibility, and expanding the attack surface.

Attempting to keep track of this DNS environment using manual methods is extremely time-consuming, impractical, and prone to error. Failing to enforce consistent security policies leaves critical infrastructure vulnerable to DNS-based attacks. It also creates compliance risks and increases the time required to detect and remediate attacks.

Effective DNS posture management requires automated DNS monitoring with end-to-end visibility. This provides a critical, comprehensive view that reveals misconfigurations, risks of exposure, and hygiene issues across your entire DNS infrastructure. So you can spot and correct any vulnerabilities before the malicious actors do.

DNS posture management is the starting point for understanding how your digital presence appears to the outside world. Once you secure your own environment, the next logical step is to secure how others, especially software as a service (SaaS) providers, interact with you.

SaaS security posture management extends that visibility and control to the third-party services and applications that your workforce relies on every day. It’s about ensuring that those you trust to work for you — from cloud-based CRMs to collaboration platforms — are configured securely, monitored continuously, and aligned with your enterprise policies.

Together, DNS posture management and SaaS security posture management form a cohesive strategy: First, secure yourself; second, secure your extended ecosystem.