The importance of Domain Name Monitoring in the NIS2 era
Cybersecurity professionals need to defend networks and endpoints, but also the digital identities of their organizations. Domain Name Monitoring is a critical element of this defense. With the implementation of NIS2 is now a cybersecurity and regulatory compliance concern, as Dutch legislation will require organisations to tighten the administration of their domain name portfolio.
Why Domains Deserve Your Attention
Every organization’s domain name functions as its public-facing gateway. It’s the foundation for email, web services, and internal systems, It is therefore an increasingly popular target for cybercriminals. By using lookalike or spoofed domains cybercriminals can redirect traffic to malicious destinations, thereby circumventing an organizations infrastructure altogether. Also, in recent years the use of forgotten or misconfigured domains to host malware or phishing campaigns has become more popular among threat actors. In short, neglected domains are not only branding risks, but also security liabilities.
The Compliance Factor: NIS2
With the NIS2 Directive soon in effect across the EU, compliance has also become an issue NIS2 emphasizes proactive risk management and supply chain security. Organizations under NIS2 must therefore demonstrate robust digital asset governance, and that includes domains. The draft of the ‘Cyberbeveiligingsbesluit’ (cybersecurity resolution) explicitly requires those organizations to register their domains for easy identification by authorities.
What to do?
To align domain name management with both security and compliance requirements, cybersecurity teams should:
- Maintain a centralized, security-aware domain registry
- Monitor for spoofing, impersonation, and DNS anomalies in real-time
- Implement DNSSEC and regularly audit DNS configurations
- Synchronize domain renewal dates with certificate management protocols
- Integrate domain name monitoring into threat intelligence practices
Domain Name Monitoring
Domain surveillance helps identify threats like impersonation or unauthorized DNS changes. It is also an affective way to ensure internal compliance within large organizations and detect ‘orphaned’ domains forgotten after a merger or rebranding. This provides you with an accurate domain inventory enabling you to prevent domain-related breaches. It will also provide you with the overview of domain registrars, hosters and DNS providers in your supply chain required under NIS2.
Meet SIDN at Cybersec Netherlands
Want to to know more? SIDN is the organization behind .nl, one of the largest and safest domain name extensions in the world. Visit us at booth B.038, where our experts are on hand to demonstrate SIDN Brand Guard. A domain name monitoring tool designed to detect domain impersonation and threats across all domain name extensions. Whether you’re seeking advice on domain name management or top notch domain defense, our team is ready to help you.
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