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An escalation in the use of internet is triggering a significant increase in the number of websites and blogs with every passing day. Internet has become the best platform for sharing content and opinions on a greater scale. Users have also understood the importance of internet in the business world to market their products and services by owning a personal blog or website.
Although creating a personal blog or business website is not a difficult task especially with the help of tools like WordPress, people don’t have sufficient knowledge of protecting their domains from the hackers. Thousands of domain names are being hacked on regular basis regardless of the fact that they can be avoidable.
It takes years to make a blog or website successful hence you must protect it from getting stolen. If you don’t know, your domain name is a gateway to wealth as recently many domains have been sold for millions. That’s what makes your domain name a theft-target asset for hackers.
Considering this disturbing problem for internet users, today we will discuss some effective ways of protecting domain names. Here are a few methods of keeping your domain name safe from hackers:
Turn On Domain Activity Alerts And Notifications
Just like Facebook and other social media sites, you may also turn on notifications for activities taking place in your website domain. Whenever some changes will be made by using your domain, you will get an alert instantly. You may get this feature for free as many domain registrars offer it as a complimentary gift. Activity alerts will help you to deal timely with any kind of unauthorized happenings.
Keep Domain Registration Records And Contact Info Updated
You must keep your domain registrar updated about any changes made to mailing address, email address or phone number that you have been using for domain transfer communication. Your contact information should also be remained updated all the time as it will allow registrar to inform you about any suspicious activities taking place under your domain name.
Choose A Registrar Wisely
When it comes to choosing a registrar for your domain name, you have to make sure you hire a professional individual who is trustworthy and capable of providing best services. It would be better to opt for a company who has years of experience in the field. A registrar should be able to provide 24/7 technical support for your domain maintenance in addition to effective security measures to keep the domain name well-protected from the hackers.
Keep Domain Registrant Info Confidential
Your domain is your business asset hence you got to be over-protective when it comes to giving away the confidential information. You cannot just provide any stranger with log in information unless he/she has passed the screening test and supposed to monitor your domain account as per your command. Make sure, you change all the account details when an authorized person who has been managing your domain leaves the organization.
Never Use Email Address As Username
Don’t ever use your email address as your username for domain account as it won’t be difficult for hackers to guess. Always come up with some strange usernames that are not even close to be guessed.
Just Lock Your Domain!
To avoid domain name stealing, tell your registrar to put the domain name under registrar lock. It will seal your registration info and DNS configuration meaning nothing would be altered unless you permit and unlock the name. After locking your domain, don’t forget to check the status periodically and if you notice any changes in domain information, repot to registrar immediately to deal with it.
Don’t Access Domain Account Through Email
It’s possible to receive emails occasionally from your registrar informing about discounts and coupon codes. Considering the emails belong to your trustworthy registrar, you will click the links embedded in the emails. But, you never know if emails are sent by phishers who have made them look exactly like the ones you get from your registrar. Clicking on the phishing links to log in your domain will make you lose your information at the hands of hackers. It’s always better to cross check the emails and avoid using email links to log in.
Keep Domain Registration And Hosting Separate
Some people make a huge mistake of hosting their domain by using the same company who registered it. In such cases, when hackers succeed to access hosting account, they eventually get their hands on registration information as well. It enables them to take over everything leaving you unable to recover your domain. Always choose different companies for registration and hosting your domain.
Create strong passwords and change them periodically
Passwords should not be easy at any cost if you don’t want your account to be hacked. It’s better to create a password by combining different special characters, upper cases and lower cases and numerical digits. A more complex password is more difficult to guess. Moreover, apart from the strength of your password, it is also advisable to change it after some time.
Set Strict Privacy
Privacy is also necessary for your domain to restrict hackers from getting any information. Use technical tools to enable privacy and make your details invisible to everyone. As a matter of fact, if hackers get their hands on your contact information, they start setting bait for you and trick you by sending phishing emails and links.
Many people lose their domain names on daily basis just because of no security. Domain names are a valuable asset that should be protected at any cost. Especially, if your website or blog has become quite popular then it’s time to pay serious attention to its protection. Losing your domain means to lose your entire business that you built after investing a considerable time and efforts. Follow these tips mentioned in the article to restrict hackers from getting their hands on the information of your domain account. It’s time to stop hackers from stealing what you have earned after a great investment.
Author Bio: John Martin wrote this article. He is a software engineer in an IT firm and also writes blogs on TheForbiz.com. He graduated from a public university in Scotland in 2016.
