(Reverse Domain Name System) Name resolution that is the opposite of the standard DNS query. Most of the time, the DNS is queried with a domain name to return the host's IP address. With reverse DNS, also called "inverse DNS," the DNS system is sent an IP address, and the domain name is returned.
Reverse DNS is used to log incoming traffic by domain name for statistical purposes. It is also used to prevent spam by determining if the e-mail message is coming from the domain name indicated in the message header. Reverse DNS is only an option and not mandatory in a DNS server. See DNS records, DNS and SPF.
Reverse DNS is used to log incoming traffic by domain name for statistical purposes. It is also used to prevent spam by determining if the e-mail message is coming from the domain name indicated in the message header. Reverse DNS is only an option and not mandatory in a DNS server. See DNS records, DNS and SPF.
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2009 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
- VisualRoute 14.0a (Mac)
- VisualRoute combines the tools traceroute, ping, reverse DNS, and Whois into a single graphical interface that analyzes Internet connections to quickly locate where an outage or slowdown occurs. An IP location database identifies the geographical location of IP addresses and Web servers, showing the path of an Internet connection on...
- Software downloads 2009-11-15
- VisualRoute 2010 14.0a (Windows)
- VisualRoute combines the tools traceroute, ping, reverse DNS, and Whois into a single graphical interface that analyzes Internet connections to quickly locate where outages or slowdowns occur. An IP location database identifies the geographical location of IP addresses and Web servers, showing the path of an Internet connection on a...
- Software downloads 2009-11-15
- DNS Enabler 4.0.3 (Mac)
- DNS Enabler allows Mac users to set up a fully-functional Domain Name Server on a plain Mac OS X machine with just one click. It is designed to allow a user to set up domain name information quickly using a single window, in the fastest time. DNS Enabler provides...
- Software downloads 2009-10-01
- SMTP Preprocessor 1.10 (Windows)
- SMTP Preprocessor is advanced tool for mail administrators. It enhances functionality of corporate mail server. The program receives SMTP messages before corporate SMTP server, on-the-fly changes or rejects them, and retransmits result to the server. Wide range of settings allows to improve security and add new features to corporate SMTP...
- Software downloads 2009-09-04
- TupSight 2.82 (Windows)
- An NAT gateway-empowered EIM Employee Internet Management product realizing LAN infrastructure/hardware-independent Web monitoring and control. As an NAT router with DNS forwarding and proxy functions, it provides the LAN with a single Internet connection and supports port mapping for reverse proxy services. TupSight is also equipped with an easy-to-use and...
- Software downloads 2009-08-31
- Nice Trace (traceroute) 1.0 (Mobile)
- The Nice Trace utility traces the route to the host in the Internet using graphically nice style and animations. Then it continues to monitor the whole path to the network resource in real-time driving your attention to possible bottlenecks and network problems if any. Nice Trace is not just a...
- Software downloads 2009-08-05
- A Good Year for Security Collaboration
- Guest Editorial by George Stathakopoulos It seems like just yesterday when I was at Black Hat. Now as I get ready to fly to Las Vegas again, I look forward to seeing a lot of security researchers, hearing their latest exploits and how they fared over the...
- Blog posts 2009-07-27
- LayerView 1.04.1003 (Windows)
- LayerView is a lightweight, robust, flexible packet sniffer which allows you to take control of your network. It reconstructs entire TCP/UDP conversations for browsing. It supports a wide range of protocols, with more being added every day. It offers full filtering support, allowing you to search through and filter data...
- Software downloads 2009-06-04
- IP Works 1.0 (Windows)
- IP Works is a free hosted suite of IP and Network Tools for web admins, Network Admins and normal Internet users the most feature in our product is simplicity of our tools, our application provide tools like. WhoIS: Get Domain name information's including International Domain Names. DNS Records: Get DNS...
- Software downloads 2009-05-05
- Reverse Sandboxing With SafeCentral
- Authentium has developed a unique approach to protecting Internet users as they conduct online banking and shopping. Authentium's SafeCentral service delivers secure web browsing even on computers that are compromised with data-stealing malware. This innovative approach is called Reverse Sandboxing. Authentium is an anti-malware company that has developed Antivirus programs...
- White papers 2008-10-01
- More for the hit-by-the-bus files
- When I was just the high school tech guy, I started a "What-if-I-get-hit-by-a-bus?" file. It wasn't big, but as I came across a particular task or bit of information that I realized should live beyond me, I typed it up and put it in a file folder. Administrative...
- Blog posts 2008-09-12
- The Unix sysadmin salary premium
- The Unix sysadmin salary premiumThe non-obviously conclusions I draw...The non-obviously conclusions I draw from this is that organisations looking fron Windows admins could do well by bring in guys with Unix experience.(I can hear someone say "No self respecting unix guy would take the job", to which the answer is...
- Discussion threads 2008-08-13
- PacketTrap DNS Audit 2.2 (Windows)
- DNS Audit is a utility that matches one or more IP addresses to their corresponding DNS names. The tool does forward lookups on the DNS name so you can ensure that the forward and reverse lookups match. The tool also displays NetBIOS, local host and lmhost file values for each...
- Software downloads 2008-08-07
- DNS Enabler 3.0.4 (Mac)
- DNS Enabler can set up a fully functional Domain Name Server on Mac OS X with just one click. It is able to handle multiple virtual domains, multiple sub-nets, aliases, MX records (including specifying back-up servers on other networks), TXT records, multi-homing, and creating reverse pointer and CNAME records -...
- Software downloads 2008-08-01
- Vulnerability disclosure gone awry: Understanding the DNS debacle
- On July 7, the day before the release of the patch for the now infamous DNS design flaw, hacker Dan Kaminsky with the help of Black Hat conference organizers invited reporters to a press conference to "discuss the massive multivendor patch being released this Tuesday." "A synchronized...
- Blog posts 2008-07-22
- Has Halvar figured out super-secret DNS vulnerability?
- [ UPDATE:Â Kaminsky has all but confirmed that, yes, the cat is out of the bag ] It looks very much like the nitty gritty of Dan Kaminsky's super-secret -- and heavily hyped -- DNS cache poisoning vulnerability has been figured out by reverse engineering guru Halvar...
- Blog posts 2008-07-21
- Kaminsky and Ptacek comment on DNS flaw
- Well, well, well, what a day for security news! I got a chance to get the scoop word of mouth from Dan Kaminsky of IOActive (pictured above [image courtesy of quinnums]) and Thomas Ptacek of Matasano pictured below on the DNS flaw that's been all over the...
- Blog posts 2008-07-08
- Dan Kaminsky breaks DNS, massive multi-vendor patch coming, details at Black Hat Vegas '08
- It would seem there's a bigger story to that MS08-037 flaw that came out for Patch Tuesday today. From Dave Lewis over at the Liquid Matrix security blog: Today Dan Kaminsky released a first, as far as I can recall. A coordinated patch was released today...
- Blog posts 2008-07-08
- Pakistan+removed+from+the+Internet
- Pakistan+removed+from+the+InternetThis has nothing to do with DNSThis has nothing to do with DNS. This is happening at a MUCH lower layer. DNS is name resolution for applications like web browsers and mail servers. Routing tables determine where the IPs are routed.The routes are being hijacked by poisoned...
- Discussion threads 2008-02-24
- Why spam can only be managed, not ended
- Years ago when I was still a bit more naive, I thought we could end the spam dilemma if we would simply implement domain-level sender authentication using digital signatures. In fact when David Berlind wrote "Why spam could destroy the Internet" in November 2002, Berlind quoted me saying that every...
- Blog posts 2007-10-26
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