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Old 01-16-2005, 02:49 AM  
GeorgeK
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Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 423
**Lensman** -- Lock Your Domains

If you check the WHOIS of adult.com, gfy.com, and gofuckyourself.com (and presumably your other domains too), they're ALL unlocked. Thus, they could be hijacked the exact same way Sleazydream experienced:

http://www.whois.sc/adult.com
http://www.whois.sc/gofuckyourself.com
http://www.whois.sc/gfy.com

The status of "ACTIVE" in the WHOIS means that the domain is unlocked. You'd want it to show a status of "Registrar-Lock", e.g. the WHOIS of sex.com

http://www.whois.sc/sex.com

Keeping your domain names unlocked means that you're hoping there aren't any rogue registrars or individuals that won't properly authenticate transfers. Those hopes would be shattered, in time....

At most registrars, locking the names is FREE.

I pointed this out a few months ago I think, but Sleazydream's experience might highlight that more folks should be taking better precautions on their own.

All my top domains are 1) locked, 2) renewed until past 2010 (no expiry risk), 3) kept at a trustworthy registrar (OpenSRS, but others are good too -- avoid NSI), 4) have up-to-date WHOIS, with full contact info, 5) cached WHOIS histories at www.whois.sc to demonstrate provenance to others, 6) strong passwords to the admin control panels that manage the domain names, and 7) multiple INDEPENDENT email addresses to prevent domain theft (i.e. it would not be enough to hack any single email address to hijack a domain -- there are multiple layers of protection; e.g. different email address to access password for unlocking domain, vs. authenticating an outgoing transfer).
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