DNS: A Small but Effective C2 system

Description

This analysis explores the exploitation of DNS for command-and-control operations and data exfiltration. It details how cybercriminals leverage DNS tunneling to create covert communication channels, bypassing traditional security measures. The article examines various DNS tunneling families, including Cobalt Strike, DNSCat2, and Iodine, discussing their prevalence and unique characteristics. It also highlights Infoblox's Threat Insight machine learning algorithms, which can detect and block tunneling domains within minutes. The study provides insights into the detection rates of different tunneling families and discusses the challenges in differentiating between legitimate and malicious DNS traffic.