With the rise of disinformation campaigns, nation-state cyberattacks, e-crime and other online deceptive practices, the need to get to the truth has never been greater. Since the Domain Name System (DNS) is considered the ground truth of the Internet (DNS does not lie), Farsight passive DNS data has become an essential tool for investigators.
According to a Farsight DNSDB user, an investigative reporter for a national newspaper, “Farsight’s data is among the most useful resources for investigating online activity that I’ve ever found. As one of the few things online that can’t be forged, the company’s extensive trove of passive DNS records help untangle the web of anonymity spun by nation state actors, political groups and companies of all stripes working to obscure their online activity.”
In 2019, reporters, threat hunters, and other cyberinvestigators used our data in headline-making investigations, from ProPublica and KrebsonSecurity.com to ThreatConnect and Recorded Future. To meet the increased demand and interest in Farsight passive DNS intelligence, in 2019 we focused on developing more tools and opportunities for users including:
In March, we launched DNSDB Community Edition, a free version of our flagship solution DNSDB, the world’s largest historical passive DNS database. DNSDB Community Edition was named one of the Hot New Cybersecurity Products at RSA Conference 2019. We have had a great response from the security community with nearly 700 sign-ups since March and the number of users continues to grow!
We also launched a journalism grant program for investigative journalists. Internet pioneer and Farsight Security CEO Dr. Paul Vixie conducted a standing-room-only hands-on training class entitled, “Finding the story: Using DNS Search for Investigative Journalism” at the 2019 Computer-Assisted Reporting Conference (CAR) Conference, an annual conference devoted to data journalism, and will return to the conference in March 2020 to do additional workshops.
In addition, we offered free hands-on workshops for our services around the world, which will continue into the new year when we kickoff 2020 with events both in Thailand and New Zealand in January.
In 2019, we introduced new search features to DNSDB. To enable users to further benefit from these features, Farsight also updated DNSDB Scout for Chrome and Firefox, which have nearly 2000 installations since they were first introduced a year ago.
In addition, we also unveiled DNS Observatory, a cool new research project backed by Farsight Security that provides a telescope for the global DNS traffic.
As we head into 2020 and beyond, the need for Farsight real-time and historical passive DNS data to get to the truth in an investigation has never been greater. To learn more how we can help your organization in the new year and beyond, contact [email protected].
Karen Burke is the Director of Corporate Communications for Farsight Security, Inc.
