An Educator's Guide to DNS Threats with Josh Kuo

The Defender's Log Podcast

Is your company's most critical blind spot hiding in plain sight? While most security teams focus on firewalls and web traffic, attackers are increasingly using the internet's phonebook—the Domain Name System (DNS)—as a secret backdoor for malware delivery, data theft, and command and control.

In this episode of The Defenders Log, host David Redekop sits down with cybersecurity educator Josh Kuo from Infoblox to uncover the shocking ways DNS is weaponized. Josh shares jaw-dropping stories from the field, explaining complex threats in a way that anyone can understand. Learn how a simple DNS query can be used to exfiltrate your most sensitive data and how Protective DNS is becoming an essential layer of defense for modern organizations.

Whether you're a CISO, a network admin, or just passionate about security, this is a conversation you can't afford to miss.

Learn More About Our Guest:

Josh Kuo is a leading cybersecurity educator at Infoblox, specializing in DNS security and threat intelligence. Infoblox is a leader in managing and securing DNS, DHCP, and IP address management (DDI) for enterprise networks. Find out more at https://www.infoblox.com

00:00 - Intro: The Secret Battles of Cybersecurity

00:45 - Welcoming Josh Kuo, Educator at Infoblox

01:40 - Josh's Origin Story: From Aspiring Dentist to Network Engineer

05:15 - Who Owns DNS? The Ponytail Guy, the Windows Team, or the Network Team?

07:30 - "If DNS Works, Everything Works": DNS as the Ultimate Network Health Check

10:05 - From the Field to the Classroom: Why Josh Became an Educator

12:45 - The First Jaw-Dropping Moment: Discovering Data Theft via DNS

13:20 - How DNS Tunneling Works to Exfiltrate Data

16:10 - Explained: DNS for Covert Command and Control (C2) Attacks

18:00 - When Good Websites Go Bad: Domain Hijacking and Cache Poisoning

20:15 - The Immense Challenge of Scaling DNS Security Monitoring

21:10 - The Power of Protective DNS and Threat Intelligence Platforms

22:00 - Final Thoughts & Outro