By Bill Worley, Ph.D.

"Security is a complete myth on the Internet." That's the message a hacker group posted on 10 European Nintendo sites in 2001. Though "complete myth" may be an overstatement, those hackers had a good point. The Internet was vulnerable back then. Unfortunately, it is just as vulnerable today.

Among the most serious points of vulnerability are the Domain Name System (DNS) servers that lie at the heart of Internet functionality. The DNS translates domain names (names of computer hosts) into numerical Internet Protocol (IP) addresses in the same way a phone book links people's names to phone numbers. Thirteen root DNS servers form the backbone of all Internet operations, but large businesses and ISPs typically have their own DNS servers. If those servers go down, so does an organization's website, email and Internet connectivity. Phone service will also fail if businesses are running voice-over-IP, which is the foundation for today's unified communications solutions.

Is there reason to be concerned about your DNS server? In fact, there are five reasons:

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