A Domain Name System, abbreviated as DNS, is an Internet protocol that translates user-friendly, readable URLs, such as malwarebytes.com, to their numeric IP addresses, allowing the computer to identify a web server without the user having to remember and input the actual IP address of the server. Name Servers, or Domain Name Servers, host these translations. They are part of the overall Domain Name System. To learn how threat actors can abuse DNS protocols, read up on DNS hijackers, a type of malware that modifies users’ DNS settings.