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DNS Hijacking

Redirecting a domain's traffic by tampering with DNS resolution rather than its registration.

FBFenwei BianAuthorVZVictor ZhouEditorJune 22, 2026
  • glossary

DNS hijacking (also called DNS spoofing or cache poisoning) attacks the resolution layer rather than the registration itself: instead of seizing the domain at the registrar, the attacker corrupts what a DNS resolver or nameserver believes the domain points to, silently sending visitors to a malicious IP. In a cache poisoning attack, a forged DNS response is accepted by a recursive resolver and cached for the duration of the TTL, misdirecting every user that resolver serves — with no change visible in the authoritative DNS records. The primary technical countermeasure is DNSSEC, which cryptographically signs DNS responses so resolvers can detect tampering. Unlike traditional domain theft, DNS hijacking leaves ownership records untouched, making it harder to detect without active monitoring of where your domain actually resolves.

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Contributors

Fenwei Bian

Software Developer & Writer • Namefi
Author

Fenwei Bian is a software developer in her thirties who spends her working hours in pull requests and her weekends with her hands in soil or sawdust. Years of open source on GitHub taught her that names are interfaces: a good one is clear, honest about what it does, and kind to whoever has to use it next.

She gardens because it rewards patience and punishes wishful thinking, and she does woodwork because a joint either fits or it doesn't. Both habits show up in how she writes about naming — measure twice, check the source, and don't sand over a rough spot and hope no one notices.

For Namefi she writes about how domain markets actually move, the practical trade-offs of tokenizing and flipping names, and picking a domain you'll still be glad you own in twenty years.

GitHub

Victor Zhou

Founder & Standards Editor • Namefi
Editor

Victor Zhou is a technology founder and standards editor focused on digital identity and trust. He founded Namefi, edits Ethereum Improvement Proposals, and previously led smart-contract architecture work at Google Labs.

His work sits at the intersection of naming, ownership, and the systems people use to establish identity online. That perspective makes him especially interested in the way names move between personal meaning, public recognition, and digital infrastructure.

For Namefi, Victor edits and writes about domains as durable digital identity: how names become ownable onchain assets, how tokenization changes custody and trust, and what naming can learn from the systems people use to establish identity online.

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