There are millions of registered domain names on the internet. People spend a lot of time checking the availability and registering their desired domain names. However, securing the domain names is just as important as registering them.
Should read: Tips on Choosing The Perfect Domain Name
Unsecured domains can easily be ‘stolen' by domain hijackers. The domain hijackers control the name, access your email, and redirect your site visitors to their own websites. The loss of site visitors can be quite unbearable for eCommerce website owners. If you are not prepared for this loss, you need to know how to secure your domain names. Here are 7 useful tips on how to secure your domain names:
Renew Your Domain Name Regularly
You must always keep track of the expiry dates of your domain names if it is crucial for your business. It is very easy for people to lose their domain names by simply forgetting to renew them at the right time.Saving reminders on your desktop calendar or mobile phone is the simplest way of setting up a renewal process.Reminders will always notify you of the renewal process in advance.The registrar can also synchronize the expiry dates for multiple domain owners.This makes it easier to manage the domains and keep track of the renewal process.These registrars allow you to renew your domain title either annually or after two or five years.Consider renewing your domain name annually or having an automatic renewal.
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Verify Contact Details Held By Your Registrar
The registrar always sends a reminder to the renewal process before the actual renewal date.The registrar also emails you on payment issues or when someone wants to obtain your domain name.Most registrars no longer send renewal reminders via postal mail.This means that you will not be able to be contacted if your e-mail address is out of date.This can only get worse if your registrar is not able to warn you when your domain name is about to be deleted.You must always update your contact details and be careful on who is listed on your contact information.This is very important especially when people managing your domain title leave your company.You should be the only one allowed to change your contact details or ownership of the company's domain names.
Keep Your Account Secure
The top priority for any account must always be securing it from domain hijacking or theft.You should be the only one with the password details of your domain names.You should always set a unique password that can't be guessed or hacked.Sharing your passwords makes it easy for other people to access your account and hijack your domain titles.Change your passwords immediately when people managing your domain names leave your company.You can also use additional verification tools like the SMS, recovery emails or security tokens to secure your account.Remember, once the domain name has been transferred, your original registrar cannot assist you.The domain hijackers often transfer these domains to other countries away from the original registrar.Keep your account secure at all times.
Registrar Lock
A majority of Registrars offer a feature that is also known as the domain lock.This service locks your domain records against transfer, modification or deletion by a third party.The Registrar-Lock also protects your domain from accidental transfers THAT can only take place when you unlock the domain lock.This feature protects your account from illegal logins from people who are not authorized.You must consider transferring your domains to a registrar who offers the Registrar Lock service.This feature makes it very difficult to transfer from your registrar.Therefore, the registrar must also be willing to unlock your domain names when requested.
Ensure Domain Privacy
Domain Privacy is a service that protects your contact information, your organization's address and all your other personal data from the public.This service allows you to hide your personal information from spammers and solicitors.You can add domain privacy during registration of your domain name or the renewal process.Some registrars offer domain privacy for free while others will charge you for it.Domain hijackers can use your personal information to contact you and try to get your password.Be careful never to reply to e-mails from companies that you have no information about.Hackers are known to submit transfers hoping that domain owners will accidentally confirm the transfers.Whenever in doubt, contact your registrar.
Use The Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP)
The Extensible Provisioning Protocol is an XML based protocol used by the registrars in managing domain names.The EPP is a standard protocol that can be used to offer an additional layer of protection for your domain names.This feature allows you to have special information codes for each domain that you own.These information codes must always be presented when modifying, deleting or changing domain names.
Use a Lasting Email address
Having a permanent e-mail address is one of the most important things that you must check on.You must always be careful when using the free e-mail services that can suspend or delete your e-mail address.E-mail services like Hotmail will automatically delete your account if you do not log in frequently.Once the e-mail address is deleted, domain hackers can sign in to the same e-mail account and be able to transfer the domain name away from you.Some domain hijackers can also use this information to impersonate you.These hackers can simply access your account by using the password recovery feature and having your password emailed directly to them.Never use a free e-mail service on your domain records.In case you are using a free e-mail address, make payments to upgrade the account to protect you from the one month inactivity policy.
These tips will be useful for you when navigating the world of domain names.Invest your time and resources on having the knowledge of securing your domain names.Most importantly, remember to keep your domain information up to date and have the necessary tools to secure your domain names.
Hope can helps, nice a day 🙂
