Reportedly, cyberquatting and domain-based cyber threats were ranked as the top two security risks faced by Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) in 2024, and they are anticipated to stay in the top three for the next few years. Domain-name system-based cyber threats are becoming increasingly complicated, and AI will only make them worse to manage. Domain-based cyber threats that exploit or replicate legitimate internet domain names are the main source of such concern. These include the invading domain registrations, implementing fabricated domains for phishing, typosquatting, or hijacking misconfigured subdomains.
Securing Public-facing Domain Infrastructure & External Risks
A Never-ending Struggle of Securing DNS
The struggle to manage DNS-based attacks is not new. A recent survey revealed that the majority of organizations had previously experienced at least one DNS attack. These are not minor cases, but the average cost of a single DNS attack now surpasses $1 million in damages. The outcomes are very severe, with more than 80% of the organizations facing app downtime after a DNS attack and many facing sensitive data theft.
This pressing difficulty is mirrored in the confidence levels of security leaders. Reportedly, very few CISOs felt ‘very confident’ when it comes to overall security against the domain-based cyber threats, but the remaining were ‘somewhat confident’ as per the CISO Outlook 2025 report.
The main issue is not a lack of tools. Many security leaders reported that when their organization finds a domain-related threat, they have tools and procedures in place to overcome it. However, it is still a complex and time-consuming procedure.
The Amplifying Role of AI
AI is augmenting both the speed and scalability of the domain-based cyber threats. Criminals can now use AI to scan for abandoned or misconfigured subdomains prone to the invaders and produce large numbers of new domains for phishing attacks at a remarkable scale.
Sophisticated cyber attacks are also becoming more impactful by integrating different techniques. An attack may start with social engineering, along with a fabricated domain to ensure credibility, which then allows a more prominent threat like a ransomware deployment.
Empowering the Human Element
To address this new era of domain-based cyber attacks, firms should address the human weaknesses that pave the way to many attacks. This human-oriented vulnerability is strengthened by the rise of ‘Shadow AI’ which is the unauthorized use of AI apps like ChatGPT. Although such tools can increase productivity, they also pose significant risks, since employees may unknowingly share sensitive data regarding the business or customers with third-party language models that have not been authorized. The threat of shadow AI incorporates an additional layer of complexity to the existing task of dealing with Shadow IT, mainly when also considering the risk of insecure LLM use in the supply chain.
Potential Impact of the Domain-Based Cyber Threats
The lack of measures against these attacks highlights the vulnerability of the company’s attack surfaces and digital assets. Invaders always target the domain names or websites with particular threat vectors like cybersquatting or DNS cache manipulation. The rise in the volumes of these attacks is already seen, and we expect them to increase drastically in 2025 with the increasingly accessible off-the-shelf tools and attack kits.
Apart from this, domain-based incidents are often found to be a direct entry point for attacks on organizational assets. We can see more and more cases of hybrid or blended attacks. They may start with a DNS attack, which targets the website, then gradually move to transmit malware across the entire core platform. This results in a distributed denial-of-service attack.
CISOs may ensure that they are developing domain security into their entire security posture. Lack of domain security may pave the way for criminals to the websites for financial gain, intercept emails to carry out attacks, and extract credentials to breach the networks.
Are You Immune to these Modern Threats?
As Domain-based cyber threats continue to increase in numbers and severity, powered by AI and focused on domain-based vectors, the operators may face challenges. There could be low confidence and struggling tools to keep up. Also, the human element could be a critical point of breakdown. Hence, it is essential to implement robust security controls to prepare for next-generation threats.
DNS Security Best Practices
DNS threats can have serious impacts on the cloud environments that depend on DNS to connect users with services and apps. These best practices can help you protect your networks.
Use a DNS firewall: The implementation of a firewall will prevent users from visiting the harmful websites which could corrupt their system and the network of the organization with a DNS firewall.
Implement DNSSEC: Apply DNSSEC to include digital signatures to DNS records, which will deliver a mechanism to check the authenticity of DNS responses and stop DNS cache-poisoning threats.
Multi-factor authentication: With multifactor authentication, you can prevent unauthorized access to the DNS settings. Here is how to manage DNS settings.
Track DNS Traffic: Tracking the DNS traffic for doubtful activity, like an increase in traffic or unusual query patterns, can engage the security teams to implement mitigation strategies and spot the DNS threat.
Segment networks: Restrict the impact of a DNS attack by separating critical systems from the less critical ones.
Regularly update and patch systems: Regularly update and patch systems to stop invaders from exploiting threats.
Other Cybersecurity Threats in 2025
AI-Powered Cyber-attacks
AI-powered cyberattacks are a budding challenge in the cybersecurity sphere. The criminals are leveraging AI to increase the sophistication and consequences of the attacks. This makes them increasingly vulnerable and difficult to detect. These AI-driven attacks can automate vulnerability detection, creating promising phishing schemes and even adapt in real-time to bypass security measures.
Deepfake Technology
Deepfake technology leverages AI to create realistic fake images, videos or audios which mimic real people. This makes it very challenging to separate them from the real content. It is quickly becoming a strong tool for the attackers. The increasing availability of sophisticated AI tools and the abundance of publicly accessible data increase the impact of deepfakes. This makes it a potential challenge for cybersecurity measures.
Malware Threats
Malware or malicious software has long been an intimidating risk to the cybersecurity sphere. It has emerged as a major concern for the IT professionals. And professionals are anticipating AI-generated attacks to continue for the next year.
Social Engineering
Social engineering continues to be the most impactful type of cyber threat since it uses human psychology instead of technological risks. These attacks fool people into bypassing normal security processes, which often results in potential data breaches or financial losses.
Summary
Overall, the domain-based cyber threats are alarming, the a need for significant measures to survive in the struggling situation. Businesses should be aware of the increasing role of AI in this sphere. Other threats are also increasing. Hence, collaborate with the cybersecurity professionals to control the risks beforehand and monitor continuously.
