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Domain Registration Security

Your domain name can be stolen as easily as an unlocked car with its keys in the ignition. Stealing your domain name. Known as domain hijacking, is difficult to prevent. However, if you keep your eyes open and register your domain names with a reputable registrar, you can decrease the chance that predators will find your information.

To steal domains names, thieves need only contact your registrar and ask them to transfer your domain name to a new ownership. Busy registrars seldom verify the information on faxes or e-mails, so you have to take active steps to instruct your registrar that they have to contact you in a particular way to warn you that they're about to transfer your domain name.

If you suspect that your private information or e-mail has been compromised, check WHOIS directories to confirm that you're still listed as the owner. You can also contact your registrar directly.

Avoid using a free e-mail account with yahoo or hotmail for your business, as those e-mail addresses are easy to steal. Once stolen, the address and password are used to locate your personal information, making it easy for the thief to produce fake correspondence that looks like it comes from you.

Stealing Your Business
Stealing your domain name isn't the only way that your business can be compromised. Cybersquatters also track important domain names so they can (legally) buy them up as soon as the registration expires. The more unscrupulous among them were known to buy up important domain names so they could resell them to the owners of a trademark later.

For example, if your small airline company, SkyHigh, goes public in March and you shop for a domain name, you may find that a cybersquatter has already registered sky-high.com, skyhigh.com, skyhigh.net, skyhigh.info, etc., with the intent to charge you $250,000 to buy any of those domain names for your web site.

Another opportunistic approach is to register domain names that are likely typos. You may own Skyhigh.com, but a cybersquatter might be redirecting customers who type skyhi.com to another airline-for a price, of course. This practice isn't illegal. Sadly, the only way you can prevent this theft is to pay an annual fee to own each of the likely typos yourself.

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