DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions) is a set of extensions to the DNS (Domain Name System) protocol that provides cryptographic security to the DNS infrastructure.
The DNS is responsible for translating human-readable domain names (such as example.com) into IP addresses that computers can understand. DNSSEC is designed to prevent attackers from intercepting and modifying DNS queries and responses, which could lead to users being directed to fake or malicious websites.
DNSSEC works by adding digital signatures to DNS records, which can be verified by a client to ensure that the DNS data it receives is authentic and has not been tampered with. This signature chain starts from the root of the DNS hierarchy and extends to the specific domain name being queried.
By using DNSSEC, clients can be confident that the DNS responses they receive are authentic and have not been tampered with. This helps prevent a variety of attacks, including DNS cache poisoning, man-in-the-middle attacks, and DNS spoofing.
DNSSEC adoption has been slow but steadily increasing, and it is now supported by most modern operating systems and DNS servers. However, it requires extra configuration and management, and not all domains have enabled DNSSEC yet.