When it comes to registering a domain name, securing a well-domain name is also equally important – you don’t want to lose your visitors from your website, do you?
That means, if you are the owner of an online store, you should do well to remember that simply making millions of dollars is not worth it if the privacy of your domain name is compromised – to make matters worse, it will affect both your reputation and your business.
If the privacy of your domain name is not well-secured, then, you can be guaranteed that any person will be able to get access to your account through the domain name registrar and can hijack your domain name, plus they can also divert your visitors to their website.
To make matters worse, this unknown person will get access to all your emails – and just think of what you are going to lose – everything – and to get the old domain name, you will have to fight a long legal battle with the new domain name registrar. So, is it all worth it?
Before losing your domain name and possibly, before it turns into a disaster, there are a few things that you can take note of, to secure your domain name.
Renewing your domain name every year
One of the simplest ways of losing a domain name is failing to renew it at the right time. It is for this reason that you should set up a renewal process – setting up a reminder will allow you in advance on when you need to renew your domain name.
That being said, you also have the option of allowing the domain name to renew automatically – most prefer this option as renewing a domain name is not something that is done regularly, so, it slips from the mind – you can opt for this option if you don’t want to lose your domain name.
Verifying your contact details with the domain name registrar
When the due date for renewal of your domain name comes, the domain name registrar will send you an email. In some cases, the registrar may also contact you when they have any issues with payment or even if someone has requested to transfer your domain name.
Hence, it’s quite important that you should make sure on updating your contact details, or else the required information will go to the wrong address, and you can pretty much guess, what will happen next, right? Better be safe than sorry.
Securing your account
Of course, it goes without saying that any person (other than you, obviously!) will be able to hijack or transfer your domain name to any other – so, it’s a no-brainer that you need to secure your account with a strong password.
Furthermore, you should also take advantage of the two-factor authentication method in which a security token or code will be sent as an SMS to your mobile number.
Using registrar lock
There are many registrars who provide a service known as the ‘Registrar Lock’ and which is also known as ‘Transfer Lock’ or ‘Domain Lock’. Enabling this option will prevent the domain name from getting transferred elsewhere, and the transfer process will only occur when the owner has logged into the account.
Of course, this method won’t work if the hijacker already has access to the account – case, in point, remember the above point – consider going for a strong password that no one will be able to guess.
However, one good news about this method is that no one will be able to transfer the domain by impersonating you through emails or calls.
Opting for domain privacy
There’s a feature that all domain name registrars offer – and that is ‘Domain Name Privacy’. While this feature is offered by free by many registrars, there are many which charge a small fee – but no matter what, be it free or premium, you should go for this option in regards to your domain name.
With this option enabled, you will be able to prevent your contact information as well as your name, address and other such important information from being shown in public. You never know – the hijackers might use this very information to trick you into revealing your password for transferring your domain name to others.
Using a permanent email address
If you have mentioned your email address in the contact information, you should make sure that it is not from such a service that can get expired, if you don’t renew it. In cases that it might happen, the hijacker can use this information to impersonate you in regards to your domain name.
If you really must use a free service, you can use an email address from online services such as Gmail, Rediff, Yahoo, and such – not only they are free, but you also don’t need to renew them as well.
Using EPP
Also known as Extensive Provisioning Protocol, EPP, if supported by your domain name registrar, you should opt to go for this option. Enabling this option will select a unique code, also known as Authorization, Information Code (AIC) for every domain that you have.
Even if you change your web hosting later on, or suppose the domain name registrar, the AIC will be required to be given to the new service provider before the domain name can be transferred.
So, you see, simply getting a domain name is not it – you will need to secure it from hijackers, and if you follow the above-mentioned tips, then, you can be sure that your domain name will be secure from those perpetrators out there. After all, prevention is better than cure.