How to protect your domain

Why is it important to protect a domain?

A domain name is not just the address of your website on the Internet, it is also an important part of your online reputation and a powerful marketing tool. If problems happen to a domain, such as tampering or even theft, the consequences can be catastrophic. It can lead to loss of access to the site and inaccessibility of email and other online services associated with the domain. That's why it's important to ensure that your domain is properly secured against potential attacks and fraud.

Domain name theft is one of the most common cybercrimes. The most common domain name thefts occur in the .com zone because of its worldwide popularity and the simple process of registering and transferring a domain there.

The most common method of domain theft in the direct sense is hacking into the owner's mailbox and changing the account password. In the future, fraudsters can demand that the legitimate owner buy back his domain or sell it to other buyers at an inflated price. Also, a website hosted on a stolen domain address may sell counterfeit goods and spread viruses and other malware, which will hurt your reputation.

Top 7 practical recommendations for domain protection

Keep in mind that if you lose your domain, it is much more difficult to get it back than to protect it from the beginning. Therefore, domain name owners are advised to adhere to the following rules.

1. Use trusted domain registrars

The first thing to consider when registering a domain is choosing a reliable and trusted registrar. Companies with poor security can be vulnerable to attacks. Therefore, it is worth choosing providers that have been on the market for quite a long time, have a good reputation, and provide services to protect against unauthorized access. 

Before registering a domain, pay attention to user reviews and check the level of security offered by the registrar (e.g., encryption support, domain theft protection policies, etc.).

2. Register a domain with real data

To register a domain, the first step is to create an account on the registrar's website. But when filling out the registration form, customers sometimes enter fictitious information (owner's name, mailbox). Such actions can have negative consequences: in case of address theft or the need to sue cybersquatters, the first thing you need to do is to confirm ownership of the domain.

3. Set up registration locks

To protect your domain from unauthorized changes, it is important to set up a lock. You should do this as soon as possible after registering your domain.

A registration lock is a mechanism that prevents you from changing your domain registrar or transferring your domain without your consent. This protection is almost impossible to bypass, so it is an important security feature. The lock can usually be set up in your registrar's account.

4. Enable two-factor authentication

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is an additional layer of protection that will prevent attackers from logging into your account without an additional code, even if they gain access to your password. It usually only takes a few minutes, and the extra protection greatly reduces the likelihood of an attack on your account.

Most domain registrars and hosting providers offer to set up two-factor authentication for accounts. When setting it up, you need to link your phone number to your account. Then, when logging into the service, in addition to login and password, you will need to enter a one-time code from SMS or from a special program on your smartphone, which is also tied to the account. Apart from you, no one else receives this code, which means that no one will be able to log in to the account.

5. Protect your contact information

When you register a domain in international zones (com, net, org, biz), your contact details (such as name, email address, and phone number) are freely available. You can find them out for free through the WhoIs database. Your personal information can be used by scammers to spoof the domain owner's name or gain access to the domain. 

Many registrars offer a paid WhoIs Privacy service to protect your personal information. It hides your contact information and replaces it with the service's data, which provides an additional level of protection against fraud.

It's also not a good idea to publish the email address to which your hosting and domain are registered as a contact for feedback. Make sure that the registration email is not listed in the public space at all.

6. Create strong passwords and update them regularly

A strong password is the first barrier to unauthorized access to your domain. When creating a password, you should choose complex combinations of characters (usually at least 6) that contain capital and small letters, numbers, and special characters. To save time, you can use password generation services, such as LastPass Password Generator.

Also, change your passwords if you gave access to your domain or hosting to a contractor or a recently fired employee. Better yet, create a guest password if the service allows it.

Also, don't forget to update your passwords regularly, especially if you notice any suspicious activity in your account. Using password managers will help you store your passwords safely and make it easier to update them.

7. Monitor your domain

To be sure that your domain is secure, it is important to regularly monitor its status. This allows you to track changes in registration data and notice immediately if the domain has been moved or contact information has changed. 

Today, there are various services for monitoring domains that will notify you of any changes. Among them:

Therefore, always enter your real data in the registration form. If the name is created for business needs, it is still registered to a specific person — the director of the company or the administrator of the site on which the account is registered. If the employee who was responsible for the website is fired, be sure to change the registration data to his successor.

• Domaintools Monitors, which allows you to be notified of any changes that affect your domain, such as changes to registration details, DNS records, or contact information.
• Sucuri, which specializes in detecting hacker attacks, malware, and other threats, provides services for monitoring changes to domains and SSL certificates.

More ways to secure your domain

There are other ways to increase the security of your domain. For example, setting up DNSSEC (DNS Security Extensions) allows you to protect against man-in-the-middle attacks by signing DNS records.

If you can, it's worth buying variants of your domain with different extensions (e.g., .com, .net, .org). This will help protect you from potential scammers who may register similar domain names.

Don't forget to continue your domain registration on time. After all, expired domains often become available for registration by others: they can be bought out either by scammers to sell counterfeit goods on behalf of your brand or by competitors to sell their goods through an established customer acquisition channel. 

Check with your provider to see if the clientTransferProhibited status is available. Most service providers have it set by default. SlientTransferProhibited does not allow you to transfer a domain to another registrar automatically without the owner's involvement. With this status in place, you can avoid situations where a hacker hacks into your database and performs a transfer of your data. 

It is also worth taking care of the security of your PC. Try not to log in to your accounts from other people's computers, especially those located in internet cafes or co-working spaces. In such cases, there is a risk that an unauthorized user will use your login and password to log in to your account.

If you still have to work on other people's computers from time to time, stick to the following rules:

• Use your browser in anonymous browsing mode.
• Don't agree to save your password when the browser prompts you to do so.
• Log out of your account when you are finished.
• When you are finished using your browser, clear the cache and cookies to delete your browsing history.

Summary

Securing your domain name is an important step towards ensuring Internet safety for your online resource. And a comprehensive approach plays a crucial role in this. To protect your domain today so you don't have to worry about losing important data and reputation tomorrow.