Don`t Lose Your Domain to Hijackers! - More Ways to Protect Yourself
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The features of your domain account can also help you protect your domain name. For example, you want to make sure your registrar has a “lock” mechanism. The lock should show up when someone looks up your domain’s whois information. A “locked” domain can’t be modified or transferred unless the registrant unlocks it. This isn’t foolproof, however; Panix.com’s domain was supposedly locked when it was hijacked, so you have to make sure that your chosen registrar is very careful about following the correct procedures.
Some registrars protect your whois details by providing you with a private domain name record. This means that, instead of your whois data appearing when someone does a whois lookup, your registrar’s data appears. It affords you more privacy, but it might make you look less professional because you are hiding who you are, so you need to carefully weigh whether to take advantage of this kind of service.
If your registrar lets you register your domain for a long time period, and you can afford it, do so. Set up reminders to yourself in an electronic calendar program to renew it before it expires. Better still, if your registrar offers an automatic renewal service, take advantage of it.
Make sure that your domain registrar sends registrants transfer pending notifications. Of course, it goes without saying that you should read your email! Speaking of email, you should look into whois monitoring alert email services; you should be able to sign up for such a service for free. It will tell you whenever the expiration date, registrar, or status of a monitored domain changes. Make sure the service you sign up with handles your domain extension (not all whois services handle .coop, for instance).
Finally, make sure you or someone you trust checks your website every day! If your domain is hijacked, you want to catch it as quickly possible so you can notify both registrars and get help from ICANN.
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