VeriSign Inc, the company millions of businesses around the world depend on for website security has faced a security breach of its own and raised questions about security of businesses under its protection. VeriSign’s domain-name system processes over 50 billion queries daily. This system allows internet users to confirm the legitimacy of the websites they visit and helps ensure safe online shopping transitions. If the encryption from VeriSigns system is broken it could allow hackers to direct people to faked sites, steal financial information and intercept email from federal employees or corporate executives.
VeriSign executives claim that they “do not believe these attacks breached the servers that support our Domain Name System network,” which ensures people land at the right Internet Protocol address when they type in a URL, but it did not rule anything out. Whether VeriSigns Domain Name System was compromised or not the breach raises questions about the amount of faith businesses put in the security giant. VeriSign possesses the registry information for millions of businesses around the world, including names, addresses and phone numbers. While this information might be safe today there is no guarantee that another security breach won’t have a more disastrous result.
As with any technology it’s unwise to depend on a single solution but alarmingly there are currently very few backups in place for if the VeriSign system fails. The best businesses can do is monitor their own systems and make note of any suspicious activity on their networks. Already security authorities are scrambling to raise awareness of the problem and many hope that the government will offer assistance when business come under attack. With multiple cyber security bills expected to reach to the senate floor this year it will be interesting to see what new measures are put into place to improve online security.
- Richard Keene
IT Computer Support of New York
Design and Optimization Department
