DNS Cache Poisoning

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What Does DNS Cache Poisoning Mean?

DNS cache poisoning is a process by which DNS server records are illegitimately modified to replace a website address with a different address. DNS cache poisoning is used by hackers and crackers to redirect visitors of a particular website to their defined/desired website.

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DNS cache poisoning is also known as DNS spoofing.

Techopedia Explains DNS Cache Poisoning

DNS cache poisoning works when the security controls of a DNS server are compromised and accessed by a hacker. The hacker replaces a website’s associated DNS records with a different website, one that may contain spam, malware and/or viruses. This is done by changing the associated domain name’s IP address to that of the malicious website. When the user accesses the target website from the corrupted DNS server, the hacker’s website appears as opposed to the original website.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology expert

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.