DNS Monitoring for GDPR Compliance

DNS and Personal Data Protection

DNS records control how users reach your services and how your systems communicate. A hijacked DNS record can redirect users to a credential harvesting site. A compromised MX record can intercept email containing personal data. These attacks exploit DNS because it's trusted infrastructure that most organizations don't monitor closely enough. Under GDPR, failing to detect these changes can turn a preventable incident into a reportable breach.

Relevant GDPR Articles

Article 32 — Security of Processing

Controllers and processors must implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure a level of security appropriate to the risk. This includes the ability to ensure the ongoing confidentiality, integrity, and availability of processing systems. ZoneWatcher monitors the DNS infrastructure that your processing systems depend on, detecting changes that could compromise their integrity or availability.

Article 33 — Notification of a Personal Data Breach

GDPR requires notification to your supervisory authority within 72 hours of becoming aware of a personal data breach. The faster you detect a DNS-based attack, the more time you have to investigate, contain, and report. ZoneWatcher's real-time alerting means your team is notified of suspicious DNS changes as they happen, not days or weeks later.

Article 5(2) — Accountability

The accountability principle requires you to demonstrate compliance with GDPR's data protection principles. ZoneWatcher's change history provides documented evidence of your DNS monitoring activities — showing that you have technical measures in place to detect unauthorized changes to the infrastructure that handles personal data.

Article 32(1)(c) — Ability to Restore Availability

Organizations must have the ability to restore availability and access to personal data in a timely manner after an incident. ZoneWatcher maintains complete snapshots of your DNS records that can be exported as Bind Zone files or CSV. If a DNS incident disrupts access to your services, you have the data needed to restore your records quickly.

Supporting Your DPO

Your Data Protection Officer needs visibility into the technical measures protecting personal data. ZoneWatcher provides:

• An inventory of all DNS records across your domains and providers
• A complete history of changes detected, with timestamps and details
• Real-time alerting on changes that could indicate a security incident
• Certificate Transparency monitoring for unauthorized TLS certificate issuances

This gives your DPO concrete evidence that DNS infrastructure is being monitored as part of your organization's technical measures, and provides the early detection capability needed to meet GDPR's breach notification timelines.