Domain Locking

Domain locking is the process of providing an additional layer of security to domain names in order to prevent unauthorized activities. This is a procedure which will prevent another person from tampering with and modifying the information in your domain. Domain locking rules out the possibility of accidental transfers, and thereby offers you a higher degree of protection. Once your domain is locked, your name servers cannot be misdirected. As a security measurement to prevent unauthorized transfers, top-level domain registries will provide an authorization code or EPP (Extensible Provisioning Protocol) to registry holders.

Domain locking is an effective solution for ensuring the security and integrity of domain names and address allocating systems. It was suggested to ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) by the SSAC (Security and Stability Advisory Committee).

Domain hijacking and slamming are the major security risks faced by a domain owner. Domain hijacking means that an unauthorized user captures the control of the domain name from the rightful holder; this is most commonly observed issue in the domain business industry. Domain hijacking is most commonly carried out by resellers (service providers). Domain hijackers focus mainly on making money. Domain locking is the most efficient method to overcome such fraud, misrepresentation, and impersonation of domain names. Domain locking is automatically provided by some registrars. On request, you can take advantage of domain locking features from registrars or official registries if they permit domain locking.

Registrar-lock and registry-lock are available. If you choose to put a registrar-lock on your domain name, certain processes cannot be carried out. For example, registrar to registrar transfer is not possible, your contact details and name servers cannot be modified or changed, and you cannot transfer the domain name account to another customer. Some top-level domain names do not support locking. For example: .eu and .uk domains do not provide locking facilities. Once locked domain names can be unlocked as per request. If a registry-lock is set up, then you are prohibited from modification, transferring and deletion by the domain name registry. It is still possible to renew domain name even if the register-lock is active. If sponsoring organization removes the lock then a domain name on registrar-lock can be modified or transferred.