Domain Name Hijacking

What is Domain Hijacking?

Domain name hijacking is just like it implies, the hijacking or theft of a currently registered domain name from its lawfully registered owner. With domain name hijacking, there is no material property that needs to be physically moved from one location to another. However, domain name hijacking always remains a threat due to the value of a domain names (or the traffic and business that a high profile domain name can bring).

Safeguarding against domain name hijacking

When you have registered your perfect domain name, what can you do about taking precautions to make sure it is not easily hijacked? There are several way to safeguard against domain hijacking:

• Use private domain registration while registering your domain name. This will hide the details of the registered owner (you) and make it harder for a hijacker to find the personal information to effect a transfer of ownership.
• Lock your domain name registration to make sure any changes on it have to ensure it gets unlocked by you first.
• Make sure when you register your domain name that you setup strong passwords on your account. When you register a domain name at Ballistic Domains, we tell you how strong the password you have selected really is. Strong passwords are made up of a combination of upper case characters (A-Z), lower case characters (a-z), numbers (0-9), and special characters (like ‘!’ and ‘@’ … etc).
• ICANN has mandated a 60-day period in which a newly registered domain cannot be transferred to another domain registrar. So read all emails you get concerning transfers and contact Ballistic Domains directly if you are unsure of the notice.
• If a domain name has recently been transferred within a period of 60 days it cannot be re-transferred. If you have not re-requested another domain name transfer, someone might be trying to hijack your domain – call Ballistic Domains to make sure all of your domain registration details are still current and accurate.
• Be careful of your renewal dates! – Ballistic Domains offers automatic renewals for you. If you do not renew your domain, and it lapses or expires, someone is perfectly entitled to register that domain name on their own behalf. This is not actually hijacking a domain name, but it is a legal way that a domain name that you may still want is transferred to another party. There is nothing that you can do about this.
• Make sure that you register your domain name with a reputable domain registrar like Ballistic Domains. If your domain name is registered overseas with a registrar that isn’t reputable or cannot be contacted easily, then you could have real difficulties trying to recover a hijacked domain.
• Be careful of ‘Domain Slamming’. Domain slamming is when a domain registrant or owner gets confusing or misleading information generally, by phone, fax or regular mail that is designed to look like your regular domain name registration renewal. In fact, this is a deceptive practice to make you sign away your domain registration to another registrar! Automatic domain name registration renewal at Ballistic Domains helps to prevent this, and if you have any questions about the authenticity of a domain name renewal, call Ballistic Domains right away.

If you follow all of the guidelines above, your domain name registration will be quite safe, and it is very unlikely that your domain name will be hijacked. For a great read of one of the most famous domain name hijacking cases, try Googling ‘sex.com domain hijacking’.

Reverse Domain Hijacking

A new trend that is emerging is reverse domain hijacking or reverse cybersquatting. Reverse domain hijacking happens when the owner of a trademark starts making false claims of cybersquatting against a domain name owner. What often happens with reverse domain hijacking is that the domain name owner gets intimidated and transfers the domain name over in order to avoid legal action and litigation. Reverse domain hijacking is an intimidation tactic practiced by some larger corporations.

Reliable Domain Registration Company

When you work with a reliable domain registration company like Ballistic Domains, you get more than the security of dependable service. We can advice you on domain hijacking threats and work with you on safeguarding your interests in a reverse domain hijacking situation.