The term ‘domain name hijacking‘ describes the illegal seize of any domain name through fraud or deception from the legal owner. Mentioned below are different types of this domain hijacking.
- Impersonation or imitation of any registrant while communicating with the registrar.
- Hijack of email server for spoofing emails to change its appearance like coming from some registrant.
- Registration of invalid registrant’s email address for resetting the password and authorizing a change of registrant or registrar.
- Addition of fresh verification information into any account and confirmation of wrongly added verification details for gaining account access.
- Registration of an invalid domain name used for contacting or registrant’s email address and spoof email address later.
- Theft activity by resentful firm employee or a business partner.
- Spyware or hacking.
- Fraudulent imitation of transferred authorizations or any account verification detail.
Reasons behind the hijacking
Domain names hold significance due to their value associated with existing businesses or resale value or the traffic they bring to the website through clicks. It is common for the hijacker to violate an account to take control of domain name in this account without an intention of selling. When stolen, it could be really difficult recover your own domain name. These registrars are quite doubtful of domain hijack claims and these hijackers conceal things to make the domain names look like being sold to the third parties.
During the time of actual discovery, things may completely go out of control. There may be need to unravel the total mess but there may be doubt over the domain name worthy enough to hire the services of an internet attorney. There would be a need for tracking down the person responsible for the theft to recover domain name. It may be required to spend a lot of money at this juncture.
Prevention
Despite internet law, hijackers are often aware of loose vulnerabilities in registration system of domain name. They exploit the weaknesses and the best thing would be prevent these occurrences. Follow the below mention easy rules to reduce the chances of domain name hijack:
Maintain correct contact details with registrar or the service provider: If the contact information for the concerned domain is not correct during theft, the service provider or registrar may find it difficult to find the authentic registrant of domain name. There isn’t a point in making things more complicated by providing incorrect contact details.
Keep registered with a trustworthy registrar: Find a registrar who would send you transfer confirmation mail before transferring any domain name. There are several registrars to select any one apart from resellers. These resellers of domain name are not in touch with ICANN. They don’t have any direct obligation of following the similar transfer check up procedure as needed by registrars qualified by ICANN.
Don’t allow the expiry of provided email address: Email addresses are a great way for unlocking the domain name. Provided it is worth stealing don’t allow it to expire to turn it easier for the hijacker.
Have a secure password and username: Don’t share these details with anyone except there is an extreme necessity.
Lock the domains: Some registrars provide locking services and it won’t allow the transfer of any locked domain.
Just monitor the portfolio: Check your portfolio on a routinely basis to monitor unauthorized changes.