E-Net News Article Archives

Keeping Lock and Key on Your Domain Name
By Michelle L. Collie
Expiry Corp. Staff Writer
September 2002

The battle over the domain name “sex.com” has been in the news a lot lately, and its story is an important one in terms of Domain Name Security. The Domain Name was originally registered in 1994 (when domain registrations were free of charge) by Gary Kremen. Soon afterward, Stephen Cohen sent Network Solutions (now owned by VeriSign) a fraudulent letter authorizing the transfer of the name from Kremen’s ownership to his own. Kremen sued and won back the name from Cohen and $65 million in damages, which he has yet to receive.

Now Kremen is suing VeriSign for allowing the name transfer to take place without contacting him via telephone or email for his authorization (a procedure they have since put in place).

Kremen’s ongoing battle over his lucrative domain name is reason enough to want to ensure the security of your domain name.

The Following Are Tips To Keep Your Domain as Secure As Possible:

When you register a domain name, you provide your Domain Registration Company with contact information about your business. It is essential that should your business move, the contact employee is no longer with the company, or the contact email address has changed that you notify your Domain Registration Company immediately. The reason for this is because the “Administrative/Registrant Contact” for the Domain Name as listed with your Domain Registration Company (and the Internet’s “Whois” Database) is the one accountable for that domain name. Likewise, your Domain Registration Company will (or should) ask for the Administrative Contact’s approval before administering requested changes to your Domain Management. If the listed email address someone@yourdomain.com is no longer valid the process of getting your changes made may take longer.

A common occurrence with many businesses is they register a domain for a certain time period and then forget to renew their domain name. Failing to renew your domain name will result in the domain becoming available and will leave open opportunity for someone else to register that name. Most Domain Registration companies send out renewal notices by mail, email, or fax (another reason why your contact information needs to be kept up-to-date).

As an important security note, it must be mentioned that when you do receive your “Renewal Notice” it is important to check that it is coming from the Company you Originally Registered your domain name with. With many different domain name registration companies in the marketplace, some have begun sending various “official-looking” documents asking for the renewal of the domain name. The average consumer would look at this notice and mistake it as the “official renewal-notice/invoice” from their domain registration company. By filling out the form they would then be consenting to “transfer” the domain from one Registration Company to another. Imagine the shock when you phone the Domain Registration Company you have been dealing with only to find out your domain name is no longer with that company?!?

That being said, it is very important to find a Domain Name Registration company that you trust, offers you excellent customer support, and the one you feel comfortable doing business with. Then, if you have domains registered with other Domain Registration Companies, it would be wise to move them all to the same company for easier management and security.

Expiry Corporation Domain Security – Every Domain Name Registered with Expiry Corporation is assigned a password and access to our Online Domain Management System. The password is the sole method of updating information (DNS Settings, URL Forwarding, Contact Information, Change of Password). If you misplace your Domain Password, the Expiry Customer Service Representatives will gladly email the password to the email on file for the Registrant of the domain name. If this email is no longer valid, Expiry Corporation requires a signed letter on letterhead with a copy of the Registrant’s piece of Identification in order to update the email address and then resend the domain name password.

For further security measures, all Domain Names with Expiry Corporation have a “Security Lock” placed on the name. If at any time you choose to transfer your domain name to another registration company, you must contact us first to have the security lock taken off of the domain name before beginning the transfer process with the other registration company. The security lock is in place to protect you and your domain name from unwanted transfer requests.

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