Monthly Archives: November 2005

Domain Lock Security Kills Hijack Risks

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I keep a regular eye on press releases related to domain names – a favourite place is http://www.prweb.com.

Today I saw a release from competitor registrar Moniker.com announcing that all newly registered domain names are automatically locked in the customer’s account and at the domain registry to ensure that only an authorized administrator can transfer those domains.

They also say that if the approved administrator unlocks a domain name, and the domain transfer doesn’t go through in 10 business days, the domain is automatically relocked to the account. And, all transferred domain names have an audit trail that allows them to track down to the date and time of the domain transfer attempt, providing an additional level of domain name protection.

The first time reading this I thought “that’s maybe a usp (unique selling point)”.

Then I thought again… Hey, don’t we already do all of that at my site DomainsNow4U?

So I asked Nick Starai at our ICANN accredited registrar partners Innerwise who are responsible for domain name security, transfers and most of our other domain services and here’s what he told me…

Hi Fred, absolutely, we have been doing all of that for years! All domains in our system are locked at the registry level whether they are new registrations or not (as long as they have not been unlocked by the account holder).

Our policy is to re-lock the domains within 5 days of an unlocking, if a transfer request doesn’t come in. Also, the ‘secret question’ is required to access the TransferShield area, which provides an additional level of protection.

Even if someone were to compromise/hack/guess a user account’s username and password, they still cannot unlock/transfer the domains without the secret question.

It is ICANN regulation that all logs of transfer transactions are kept, so we have that as well. (IP address, time, date, email, etc..)

Read more about how DomainsNow4U keeps your domain names secure.

How do I acquire a domain name?

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There are two main ways you can obtain a domain name. You can either register a domain name yourself or you can get your web hosting company or ISP (Internet Service Provider) to register one for you.

To register a domain name yourself you will need to select a Registrar or a domain reseller who works with one. A Registrar is an ICANN accredited domain registration company. There are hundreds of Registrars on the Internet nowadays. The market is becoming increasingly competitive and this means you can buy domains at a low yearly fee. Prices start at about $8 but sometimes it is worth paying more if the registrar offers a useful domain management interface or free services such as email or domain forwarding.

Most web hosting companies offer domain registration services to their clients. When you register a domain name through a web host they will usually register the domain name for you through their own approved registrar. An advantage to having your web host register your domain name is that they have probably done this process many times before and have all the necessary information to hand. This can save you time and, as long as you get the domain name desired, there will be no unfamiliar dealings with Registrars. Just be sure that the hosting company registers YOU as the domain owner (registrant)… That’s because some unscrupulous web hosts keep formal ownership of the domain name to themselves as a way of ensuring their hosting customers won’t leave them. If you are unsure, be certain to ask the hosting company before you sign up for that “free domain” hosting deal!