The Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) is a suite of Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) specifications for securing certain kinds of information provided by DNS for use on IP networks. DNSSEC is a set of extensions to DNS provide to DNS clients (resolvers) origin authentication of DNS data, authenticated denial of existence, and data integrity, but not availability or confidentiality. DNSSEC is necessary because the original DNS design did not include security but was designed to be a scalable distributed system. DNSSEC adds security while maintaining backward compatibility.

The longer an adversary has this level of access, the greater the impact. Defenders must detect this stage as quickly as possible and deploy tools which can enable them to gather forensic evidence. One example would come with network packet captures, for damage assessment. Only now, after progressing through the primary six phases, can intruders take actions to realize their original objectives. Typically, the target of knowledge exfiltration involves collecting, encrypting and extracting information from the victim(s) environment; violations of knowledge integrity or availability are potential objectives also . Alternatively, and most ordinarily , the intruder may only desire access to the initial victim box to be used as a hop point to compromise additional systems and move laterally inside the network. Once this stage is identified within an environment, the implementation of prepared reaction plans must be initiated. At a minimum, the plan should include a comprehensive communication plan, detailed evidence must be elevated to the very best ranking official or board , the deployment of end-point security tools to dam data loss and preparation for briefing a CIRT Team. Having these resources well established beforehand may be a "MUST" in today's quickly evolving landscape of cybersecurity threats