How to protect your domain ownership – basic tips

Nowadays, our virtual property such as files, sites and domains can sometimes cost and mean more to us than even our real estate.

Real estate is protected in a number of ways and is taken care of by many state institutions, and despite a number of abuses, it is much harder to one day just wake up without it. The files we have and the sites uploaded to the server are a separate topic, but today we’ll pay attention to the security of the domains we own, as well as the good practices related to not having headaches with their theft and possible loss.

Domain registration is sometimes an impulsive decision and it is not uncommon to buy it in minutes. However, its loss can last even less – just seconds, or as a result of not being careful when buying it. And if sometimes there are domains in our portfolio that are not fatal to lose, it is not uncommon for people to lose many valuable domains just because they forgot about them, did not pay attention to their security or other trivial reason.

That is why we urge you to pay more attention and follow a few basic principles for each of your domains. There are several basic ways to lose it. More often than not, you just forget to pay on time. It has probably happened to everyone, and the best option is to simply set up the necessary reminders, link an email to the domain that you follow closely, and, if possible, prepay for the year or two ahead, as some more exotic domains require much more early renewal.

1. The dangerous employee

In many companies, the registration of domains is handled by the secretary оr the person in charge of IT. However, it is not uncommon for him to quit his job, along with all the domain data, passwords, etc. Taking the domain back is associated with many problems, and even if the person is with good intentions, there is simply a chance that you will not be able to find it. Keep all the information about your domains with you or someone you trust.

2. Register your domains yourself

The best option, whether you are a director of a large company or have a small company, is to register your domains yourself. It is not difficult at all, it takes very little time, and in the future it will save you a number of headaches. Register with your primary email, which you generally use, provide reliable information about yourself and put the domain in an account with your email. If you are a large company and have many employees, it is no problem to give access to another person, but the registrant must be you.

3. Bet on strong and complex password

Domain theft can occur because of a weak password. As with everything else, it is mandatory to use a complex, long and high quality password when registering a domain. Simply don’t put a series of numbers, your name, something that anyone can easily think of. Use different words, mixed symbols, numbers and even special characters. It will be great if you replace any 1 with “!” for example.

4. Use a secure email and protect it well

Most domain thefts are committed through the email to which they are registered. A serious mistake you can make is to provide mail that you rarely use, one that receives mostly spam or has a weak password. Be sure to use your primary mail to make sure you get everything related to managing your domain. In order not to be stolen in this way, be sure to protect your email well. This can be done through the use of a quality password, as well as two-factor authentication.

In addition to breaking the email, many people lose their domain if they have registered it to an email, which eventually ceases to exist. An interesting detail here is that for WHO.IS domain information it is not a bad idea to give another mail. Yours is better hidden so that it is not visible to random people. In the official domain information you have several fields in which you can put different email from your main one. Manage this well and you will save yourself a lot of trouble

5. Beware of phishing attacks

The above section is directly connected to this element. It’s good that random people can’t figure out whose email is exactly behind a particular domain. Thus, the chances of fraud and domain theft will be much lower. This applies not only to domains, but be extremely reserved about all emails that make you open links. Carefully monitor the environment you are in, see if the address is an imitation of the one you should be in, and last but not least – never fill in a username and password on a page you came to after a link from your mail – now almost no company does such things, precisely because they are used by fraudsters.

6. Take Advantage of Domain Locking

When you purchased your domain, the registrar most likely made you aware of a security enhancement called domain locking. It might have even been enabled on your account by default.

Domain locking stops unauthorized transfer of your domain name to another registrar, and it’s a very popular method of ensuring domain name security.

Once your domain is locked, it will be almost impossible for the thieves to redirect your nameservers or transfer your domain name.