Domain Name Hijacking is becoming a common buzzword on the internet. Many organizations and businesses pay a large amount of money every year to ensure that their domain names remain secure and protected and are not stolen or lost. This article explains how Domain Names get stolen and how you can prevent your domain name from theft.
Registrant Email Address
The most vulnerable link in the security chain of your domain name, is the Registrant Email Address.The Registrant Email Address indicates who the owner of the domain name is and which email address should have control of the domain name. All important communication for the domain name is done with the Registrant’s email address only.
Phishing and Fraud
A common way of stealing domain names is by sending a phishing mail to the registered email address asking the owner to verify his / her details or to login to their domain control panel through a link in the email. That link actually goes to the hijackers website, which requests the owner to put in his control panel login credentials into a form.
Hacked Email Account
If your email account was compromised, you should change the passwords of all your control panels and sensitive login credentials. A lot of damage can be done when the attacker compromises your email account. In one instance, the attacker had access to the gmail address of the Domain Owner.
Bad Registrar
Having an unscrupulous Registrar or a vulnerable Registrar is also a big threat to your domain name’s safety. By Registrar I also mean the Registrar’s Resellers and Affiliated vendors. If you have a problem with your Domain Reseller, you can always escalate the complaint to the Domain Registrar who is bound to take the corrective action.
Domain Lock
The best way of keeping your domain name safe is to ensure that it is “locked”. All Registrar’s provide a Registrar Lock feature which allows you to prevent your domain name from being transferred out when the lock is enabled. This means that you can lock your domain name till the time you want to actually transfer it out. If you have registered your domain name for a long period, it will be a good idea to keep the domain name locked.
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Registrant Email Address
The most vulnerable link in the security chain of your domain name, is the Registrant Email Address.The Registrant Email Address indicates who the owner of the domain name is and which email address should have control of the domain name. All important communication for the domain name is done with the Registrant’s email address only.
Phishing and Fraud
A common way of stealing domain names is by sending a phishing mail to the registered email address asking the owner to verify his / her details or to login to their domain control panel through a link in the email. That link actually goes to the hijackers website, which requests the owner to put in his control panel login credentials into a form.
Hacked Email Account
If your email account was compromised, you should change the passwords of all your control panels and sensitive login credentials. A lot of damage can be done when the attacker compromises your email account. In one instance, the attacker had access to the gmail address of the Domain Owner.
Bad Registrar
Having an unscrupulous Registrar or a vulnerable Registrar is also a big threat to your domain name’s safety. By Registrar I also mean the Registrar’s Resellers and Affiliated vendors. If you have a problem with your Domain Reseller, you can always escalate the complaint to the Domain Registrar who is bound to take the corrective action.
Domain Lock
The best way of keeping your domain name safe is to ensure that it is “locked”. All Registrar’s provide a Registrar Lock feature which allows you to prevent your domain name from being transferred out when the lock is enabled. This means that you can lock your domain name till the time you want to actually transfer it out. If you have registered your domain name for a long period, it will be a good idea to keep the domain name locked.
Source
This article is worth bookmarking!