DNS over HTTPS (DoH) in Gaming: Balancing Privacy and Threat Visibility

Abstract

DNS over HTTPS (DoH) has emerged as a revolutionary protocol for enhancing user privacy by encrypting DNS queries, thus protecting them from eavesdropping, manipulation, and surveillance. While this technological advancement addresses increasing concerns regarding data privacy, its implementation within gaming ecosystems presents considerable cybersecurity challenges. Gaming platforms, which heavily depend on DNS for essential operations such as matchmaking, geolocation, and content delivery, now confront a critical issue: balancing robust threat visibility with the need to uphold player privacy. Traditional security tools, which rely on monitoring plaintext DNS traffic, become ineffective in DoH-integrated environments, resulting in blind spots that can facilitate malicious activities like phishing, DNS tunneling, and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. This paper examines the implications of DoH within the gaming sector, emphasizing the trade-offs between privacy and threat visibility. We propose a hybrid framework that utilizes encrypted DNS for privacy enhancement while enabling threat detection through on-device monitoring, behavioral analysis, and machine learning techniques. By evaluating DNS query patterns and incorporating real-time threat intelligence, our framework effectively identifies and mitigates risks without infringing on player privacy. Case studies from multiplayer gaming platforms illustrate the effectiveness of our approach, demonstrating its capacity to detect and neutralize DNS-based attacks with minimal latency and high accuracy. Our findings highlight the necessity for adaptive security measures in gaming infrastructures that strike a balance between the critical goals of privacy and protection. This research advances the existing knowledge on DNS security in gaming by offering practical solutions for an industry increasingly reliant on encrypted protocols. By tackling the challenges associated with DoH adoption, this paper provides a strategic framework for gaming platforms to enhance cybersecurity while respecting player privacy.