Young Turkish Engineers Address a Hidden Internet Vulnerability With Blockchain

Cyberattacks targeting the Domain Name System (DNS), which directs internet users to the correct addresses, can disrupt access to digital services for millions of people and organizations. Four young Turkish computer engineers have developed a new defense against cyberattacks by adding a blockchain-based security layer to DNS technology, which was introduced in 1983. The project, called SiberTepe, aims to reduce disruptions and security vulnerabilities caused by cyberattacks. It placed second nationally in the TEKNOFEST 2026 Blockchain Competition.

A year of development

Ediz Ural, Özgür Pirli, and Atahan Düryaz, recent graduates of Yeditepe University’s Department of Computer Engineering, began working on SiberTepe while they were students. Together with Ahmet Atakan Okutan, a master’s student in the university’s Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, they developed the project over approximately one year. The work, carried out at Yeditepe University’s Venture Studio at Teknopark Istanbul, aimed to improve the security of DNS and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) systems used in organizations’ network infrastructure.

“Attacks can be difficult to detect”

Ediz Ural, a computer engineering graduate of Yeditepe University and leader of the SiberTepe team, said the project idea grew out of security problems they encountered during their internships. “Cyberattacks carried out through DNS and DHCP are highly covert and difficult to detect,” Ural said, adding:

“We noticed this problem during our internships and tried to develop a system that could address and prevent it. After we started developing the project, we learned about the TEKNOFEST competition and wanted to take part. We placed second in the competition. During our preparations, we didn’t have a single day when we didn’t work. Every day after classes, we started in the evening and sometimes worked until morning because we were trying to develop a system that didn't yet exist anywhere in the world. Adding this security layer took a great deal of time and effort. Our system now adds a security layer to the DNS infrastructure used since 1983. With this layer, we aim to prevent stealthy cyberattacks by moving a centralized system to a decentralized architecture.”

Explaining how DNS and DHCP work, Ural said, “DNS is the system that helps you find the address you want to reach when you go online. DHCP automatically assigns an IP address to your device when you connect to the internet. We wanted to combine these two systems to create a blockchain-based security infrastructure. Instead of keeping information in a single central location, we store it across different addresses and regions. This is intended to stop cyberattacks from bringing the system down by targeting a single center. Blockchain’s immutability also allows us to detect changes made to records when an attack occurs.”

“We aim to keep the system secure and prevent potential attacks”

Ahmet Atakan Okutan, the team’s advisor and a master’s student in the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at Yeditepe University, highlighted the importance of DNS infrastructure security. Okutan said a 2016 cyberattack disrupted access to major platforms such as Netflix and Facebook for hours. “We can think of DNS as an address book. Serious problems can arise if this address book is corrupted or falls into the hands of malicious actors. In the system we developed, address records are stored across different regions and nodes. If corruption occurs at one point, checks are carried out using the other nodes. This is how we aim to keep the system secure and prevent potential attacks,” Okutan said.

“We placed second among 17,600 entries”

Describing TEKNOFEST as an intense and exciting experience for the team, Okutan said the competition received approximately 17,600 applications. Following the elimination rounds, 30 teams advanced to the final, with SiberTepe placing second among them. Okutan also emphasized that individual internet users need to be vigilant about cybersecurity. “Users need to be especially careful when visiting websites and should share their personal information only on platforms they trust. Individual users’ security awareness matters just as much as network security at companies and institutions,” Okutan said.

Press:  Haberler| Son Dakika| DHA| Aydınlık