DNS (Domain Name System)

The internet's directory service that translates human-friendly names, such as example.ca, into the numeric IP addresses computers use to find each other.

Whenever someone visits your website or sends you an email, DNS is quietly working in the background to look up where that traffic should go. Your domain's DNS records point to your website host, specify which servers receive your email, and hold security records such as SPF, DKIM and DMARC.

Because DNS controls where your traffic and email go, it is a valuable target. If an attacker gains access to your domain registrar or DNS hosting account, they can redirect your website, intercept email or impersonate your business. Small businesses sometimes lose track of who registered the domain, which email address the account uses or when it expires, leading to outages or lost domains.

Practical tip: make sure your domain registrar and DNS accounts are owned by the business, not a former employee or web designer. Protect them with a strong unique password and multi-factor authentication, enable auto-renewal and registrar lock, and keep a record of who has access.