Protect Your Domain Name From Being Hijacked

Domain hijacking is taking the control of a domain name from the rightful name holder. Hijacking a domain name is not an uncommon practice, but getting it back may require legal action. If your domain name is Trademarked, you’ll have an easier time getting it back.

How to Protect Your Domain Name

First and foremost, use a reputable registrar and lock your domain name. A domain registrar, sometimes called a DNS (Domain Name Server), is a business that sells domain names and handles the business of registering them. Domain names are the main address a website uses on the web — your “dot com.”

You may also want to select your registrar’s “auto renew” option so that your domain registration renews before it expires.

When registering your domain, to protect your brand, also register the .net, .org, .info, along with variations of your domain name. You can then have all of your other domain names redirect to your main one. For example: this domain is webdesignsbyterri.com. I also registered is webdesignbyterri.com (without the “s”) and redirected it to my actual domain. I redirect all of my domain names over to the main one.

Why Protect Your Email in Order to Protect Your Domain Name?

Another way to protect your domain name is to protect the administrative email account associated with it. And don’t use the email address with your domain name in it for the administrative contact information. If something happens to your domain you want to be sure your registrar can email you.

When you first signed up for your web hosting package, that email contained all of the information that you will need in order to access your website’s control panel. Most people save that email, in case they forget their login info, or their password. Or, if they forget their password, they’ll do a password reset request. A new temporary password is then emailed to you, with the note that it should be changed immediately. A lot of people don’t bother changing it, and once again, will save the email.

If the email account associated with your domain is hacked, in addition to having your personal and confidential emails compromised, you’ll lose your domain name, which means that you’ll lose your website.

5 Tips to Protect Your Email From Being Hacked

These tips will not only help protect your email, but will also help protect the email/accounts of anyone you communicate with via email.

As with everything you do online, always use strong passwords. Do not use a common word that can be found in the dictionary, or any personal information such as your birthday. Never use the same password for all of your online accounts. Reason being is that hackers use credential stuffing where they use stolen usernames and passwords obtained from a breach at a major department store, or company, and “stuff” them into as many online services as possible — including banks — using bots. Credential stuffing is different from traditional brute force attacks. You can install a security plugin on your website to block brute force attacks.
Never click on suspicious links in emails, or text messages. If you get a link that appears to be from a business name that you recognize, you can mouse-over (Do Not Click) the link and the URL will appear at the bottom of your browser. On a related tip: If you get an email from a name and email address that you know, but there’s nothing in that email other than a link… there’s your clue to DELETE the email; without clicking on the link, of course.
Whenever possible, don’t use public Wi-Fi or public computers.
Keep all of your software and apps updated. Upgrades often include security improvements.
If your email has been hacked, and you’ve been saving all of those emails with your login credentials, consider putting a credit freeze on your credit report. A credit freeze temporarily suspends anyone from access your credit report. Putting a freeze on your credit is free, simple, and it can help protect you from identity thieves. Putting a freeze on your credit report is guaranteed by law (Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act). Credit locks and credit freezes do the same thing, but there are some differences between the two.

Private Domain Name Registration

Sign up for private domain registration (also known as WHOIS Privacy) with your web hosting company. By the way, Domain name registration is not the same as Domain name SEARCH ENGINE REGISTRATION. There’s no such thing as Domain name search engine registration.

When you register a domain name using the private registration option, all your personal details such as your name, address, phone and administrative email address are hidden from the public. Whenever a hacker performs a WHOIS lookup for your domain name, he will not be able to find your personal information.

Private registration provides an extra security measure and protects your privacy by allowing you to remain anonymous, and helps to increase the privacy and security of your website. It also helps protect you from spam calls and advertisers selling domain related products. Even though it costs a few extra bucks, it really is worth getting for its advantages.

If you didn’t opt for private registration when you purchase your domain, you can still add it by logging into your account and adding that service. If you’re not sure where to find it in your account, contact your hosting company and they’ll set up that service for you.

Hackers will hack. Nothing online is “hack-proof.” Why make it easy for them to gain access to your information, or your website?

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