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How do you use passive DNS analysis to investigate malware communication domains?

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Malware often communicates with remote servers or peers using domain names that are dynamically generated or registered by the attackers. These domains can provide clues about the malware's behavior, origin, and purpose, but they can also be hard to track and analyze. One technique that can help you investigate malware communication domains is passive DNS analysis. In this article, you will learn what passive DNS analysis is, how it works, and how you can use it to identify and correlate malware communication domains and IP addresses.

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Juan Chamorro

Cybersecurity | Solution Architecture | Sales Engineering | Business Development | CISSP | CCSP | MBA

1 What is passive DNS analysis?

Passive DNS analysis is a method of collecting and querying historical DNS data from various sources, such as network sensors, DNS resolvers, or public repositories. DNS, or Domain Name System, is the protocol that translates domain names into IP addresses and vice versa. By analyzing the DNS records of a domain name, you can find out when and where it was registered, what IP addresses it resolved to, and what other domains shared the same IP address or name server. Passive DNS analysis can help you discover the infrastructure and patterns of malware communication domains, as well as their relationships with other domains and IP addresses.

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2 How does passive DNS analysis work?

Passive DNS analysis works by capturing and storing DNS queries and responses from different points in the network, such as DNS resolvers, firewalls, or proxies. These DNS data are then aggregated and indexed by passive DNS servers or databases, which allow you to search and query them using various criteria, such as domain name, IP address, record type, or time range. Passive DNS analysis does not interfere with the normal operation of the DNS system, nor does it generate additional traffic or queries. It simply observes and records the existing DNS activity.

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3 How can you use passive DNS analysis to investigate malware communication domains?

Passive DNS analysis can be used to investigate malware communication domains in a variety of ways. For instance, you can identify IP addresses associated with malicious or suspicious activity, such as hosting malware or phishing sites, or being part of a botnet or a fast-flux network. Additionally, you can find other domains that resolved to the same IP address or used the same name server as a malware communication domain, and determine if they are related to the same malware campaign or threat actor. Furthermore, passive DNS analysis can be used to track changes and variations of a malware communication domain over time and check if it follows a specific algorithm or pattern. Lastly, you can compare the passive DNS data of a malware communication domain with other sources of intelligence, such as malware samples, network traffic, or threat reports, to gain more insights and context about the malware's behavior, origin, and purpose.

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Juan Chamorro

Cybersecurity | Solution Architecture | Sales Engineering | Business Development | CISSP | CCSP | MBA
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- passive DNS analysis can be also used to identify malware exfiltration activity. DNS queries with abnormal frequency, sizes, and the use of some type of encoding can be signs of malware exfiltration activity. Entropy analysis of domain names can be also applied to identify Malware domains and activity.

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4 What are some tools and resources for passive DNS analysis?

When performing passive DNS analysis, there are many tools and resources that you can use, depending on your needs and preferences. Passive DNS databases are online repositories that collect and store data from various sources, allowing you to search and query them. Examples include VirusTotal Intelligence, Farsight Security's DNSDB, RiskIQ's PassiveTotal, and CIRCL's Passive DNS. Passive DNS clients are software applications that allow you to query these databases from your own system. Examples include dnsdbq, pdns, and Maltego. Passive DNS sensors are devices or software that capture and store your own passive DNS data from your network, and share them with other passive DNS databases. Examples include PassiveDNS, dnstap, and Packetbeat.

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5 What are some best practices and limitations of passive DNS analysis?

Passive DNS analysis is a powerful and useful technique for investigating malware communication domains, however, it is important to be aware of its best practices and limitations. Passive DNS analysis is not a real-time technique as it relies on historical DNS data, so it should be verified and complemented with other sources of information such as active DNS queries, network traffic analysis, or malware analysis. Additionally, the availability and quality of the passive DNS data sources used will affect the coverage, accuracy, and freshness of the passive DNS data collected. Therefore, multiple passive DNS databases should be used and results compared and cross-checked with each other. Lastly, passive DNS analysis can only provide clues and indicators of the malware communication domains and not definitive evidence or attribution. As such, it should be used as part of a broader malware investigation process and not relied upon alone to make decisions or judgments.

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Dr. Paul de Souza

Founder President at Cyber Security Forum Initiative (CSFI.US) National Security Professional | Advisor | University Professor
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An example I have seen with the increasing adoption of encrypted DNS protocols like DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) and DNS-over-TLS (DoT) is that passive DNS analysis can no longer directly inspect the content of DNS queries and responses. This limitation reduces the effectiveness of passive DNS analysis in detecting malicious activities that leverage encrypted DNS traffic.

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How do you use passive DNS analysis to investigate malware communication domains?

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1 What is passive DNS analysis?

2 How does passive DNS analysis work?

3 How can you use passive DNS analysis to investigate malware communication domains?

4 What are some tools and resources for passive DNS analysis?

5 What are some best practices and limitations of passive DNS analysis?

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