Akamai Expands Offerings in Hybrid DNS Infrastructure Security with Shield NS53

Rhea-AI Summary

Akamai Technologies, Inc. launches Akamai Shield NS53 to protect on-premises DNS infrastructure from resource exhaustion attacks, complementing its cloud-based DNS solutions. The product aims to prevent DDoS attacks on critical DNS infrastructure, providing security, availability, and performance improvements.

Insights

Cybersecurity Expert

The introduction of Akamai Shield NS53 represents a strategic enhancement in cybersecurity, particularly in the realm of DNS infrastructure protection. With DDoS attacks becoming more prevalent and sophisticated, the ability of Shield NS53 to mitigate resource exhaustion attacks is a significant development. As DNS services are critical for maintaining an online presence, the protection of these services directly impacts business continuity and risk management.

From a cybersecurity standpoint, the deployment of Shield NS53 can be seen as a proactive measure to defend against the rising tide of DDoS attacks targeting DNS infrastructure. The fact that Akamai processes a vast number of DNS requests daily and that a considerable portion of these are identified as illegitimate indicates the necessity for such a defense mechanism. The solution's focus on improving security, availability and performance aligns with the growing demand for robust cybersecurity measures in today's digital landscape.

Financial Analyst

The launch of Akamai's Shield NS53 could potentially have a positive impact on Akamai Technologies' financial performance. By addressing a critical and growing threat to digital infrastructure, Akamai is tapping into a market need for advanced cybersecurity solutions. This new offering could drive sales growth, particularly as DDoS attacks continue to rise, highlighting the importance of DNS security.

Moreover, the product's ability to improve the return on investment for existing DNS infrastructure by enhancing performance and reducing latency is likely to appeal to cost-conscious businesses. This could lead to increased customer retention and attract new clients. As a result, investors might view the introduction of Shield NS53 as a move that strengthens Akamai's competitive position in the cybersecurity market, potentially leading to an increase in market share and, consequently, shareholder value.

Market Research Analyst

In the context of market trends, the launch of Shield NS53 by Akamai is a response to the growing necessity for enhanced DNS protection. The product's introduction is timely, considering the reported increase in DNS-related DDoS attacks. The ability of Shield NS53 to act as a bidirectional proxy service not only enhances security but also addresses the performance demands of modern enterprises.

The strategic partnerships with companies like Carahsoft for distribution in North America and the availability through global partners indicate Akamai's commitment to expanding its reach. The focus on leveraging an existing partner ecosystem for the deployment of Shield NS53 suggests a market penetration strategy that could result in wider adoption of the solution. This approach could potentially create a ripple effect, encouraging other cybersecurity providers to innovate and expand their offerings to meet evolving threats, thus affecting the overall cybersecurity solutions market.

Shield NS53 protects on-premises and hybrid DNS infrastructure from resource exhaustion attacks

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the cloud company that powers and protects life online, today announced the launch of Akamai Shield NS53, a product that protects on-premises (on-prem) Domain Name System (DNS) infrastructure from resource exhaustion attacks. These attacks overwhelm servers to the point that they can no longer respond to valid DNS queries. The new offering complements Akamai Edge DNS, which is a comprehensive cloud-based DNS solution, and Akamai Prolexic, the industry-leading distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) protection platform for Layer 3 and Layer 4 attacks.

Over the past three years, there has been a significant increase in the number and the scale of DDoS attacks on DNS infrastructure. In the fourth quarter of 2023, more than 60% of the DDoS attacks mitigated by Akamai had a DNS component, emphasizing why the security, availability, and reliability of critical DNS infrastructure remains a high priority for digital infrastructure security leaders. If the DNS infrastructure of a business or institution goes down, their online presence also goes down, causing reputational damage and financial losses.

"Akamai recognizes the security challenges faced by our customers and our partners in a rapidly evolving threat landscape, and we focus on offering robust DDoS protection for all key entry points to their digital infrastructure, whether on-prem, in cloud, or hybrid," said Sean Lyons, SVP and GM of Infrastructure Security at Akamai. "Organizations are looking for a better way to manage the increasing volume of DNS/DDoS attacks they face every year. With the launch of Shield NS53, customers can rest assured their servers will have no downtime, and they can instead focus on business operations."

Akamai processes more than 11 trillion DNS requests daily and finds that roughly 40% of DNS queries for the top 50 financial services customers are illegitimate NXDOMAIN queries, also known as DNS resource exhaustion attacks. Security leaders can now rapidly and easily deploy Akamai Shield NS53 to protect their on-prem and hybrid DNS infrastructure from such attacks. This solution helps customers by:

• Acting as a shield between cybercriminals and critical digital assets to stop illegitimate DNS queries at the edge of Akamai's network while responding to legitimate queries either from cache or forwarding them to the customer's original DNS server, thereby improving its security, availability, and performance.
• Proactively building custom DNS security policies, which can be self-configured by customers using the Akamai Control Center or APIs. Customers have complete control over their dynamic policy configurations and data, and can enforce their policies in real time.
• Improving the performance and the ROI of existing DNS infrastructure by acting as a bidirectional proxy service, reducing latency and improving user experience. Additionally, Shield NS53 improves and optimizes the total cost of ownership and the ROI of customers' investments in their existing on-prem or hybrid DNS infrastructure.

Akamai is leveraging its global partner ecosystem and extensive on-premises enterprise infrastructure security expertise to assist customers in onboarding Akamai Shield NS53. The new solution is available immediately from Akamai's strategic partners such as Carahsoft in North America, and from additional authorized partners globally. Organizations can visit the Akamai Partner Directory to find a partner for their region, or contact us for help.

About Akamai
Akamai powers and protects life online. Leading companies worldwide choose Akamai to build, deliver, and secure their digital experiences — helping billions of people live, work, and play every day. Akamai Connected Cloud, a massively distributed edge and cloud platform, puts apps and experiences closer to users and keeps threats farther away. Learn more about Akamai's cloud computing, security, and content delivery solutions at akamai.com and akamai.com/blog, or follow Akamai Technologies on X, formerly known as Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Contact
Jim Lubinskas
Akamai Media Relations
703.907.9103
jlubinsk@akamai.com 

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SOURCE Akamai Technologies, Inc.

FAQ

What is Akamai Shield NS53 and what does it protect against?

Akamai Shield NS53 is a product launched by Akamai Technologies, Inc. to protect on-premises Domain Name System (DNS) infrastructure from resource exhaustion attacks.

How does Akamai Shield NS53 complement Akamai's existing solutions?

Akamai Shield NS53 complements Akamai Edge DNS, a cloud-based DNS solution, and Akamai Prolexic, a DDoS protection platform, by providing additional protection for on-premises DNS infrastructure.

What percentage of DDoS attacks mitigated by Akamai in the fourth quarter of 2023 had a DNS component?

More than 60% of the DDoS attacks mitigated by Akamai in the fourth quarter of 2023 had a DNS component.

How does Akamai Shield NS53 help customers improve their DNS infrastructure security?

Akamai Shield NS53 acts as a shield between cybercriminals and critical digital assets, stopping illegitimate DNS queries and allowing customers to proactively build custom DNS security policies.

What benefits does Akamai Shield NS53 offer to customers?

Akamai Shield NS53 helps improve the security, availability, and performance of DNS infrastructure, enables dynamic policy configurations, reduces latency, improves user experience, and optimizes the total cost of ownership for customers.