The domain name of your company is an important aspect of your brand. The growth of the internet has given professional and amateur cybercriminals an easy way to steal your company’s domain name. If they can gain control over it, any website created will be difficult or impossible to access.
In addition, your competitors may or may not be interested in buying the infringing domain names so they can either develop them as a competing business or use them to redirect your customers to their websites. This is why protecting your business’s online presence should be a high priority for all companies. Here are a few simple steps to protect your company’s domain name.
Be Mindful of Administrative Details
You must be the original administrator of your company’s domain name. It won’t be an issue if you bought the name through a professional registrar. However, if you registered it yourself, certain details can give others administrative control over the domain name.
One such detail is the Whois history. That is a public record of all registered domain names and their owners. Make sure that the domain name is registered under your company’s name. You can do this by checking to see if it mentions any other business in the registration information section of the Whois report for your website.
Protect Using SSL Certificates
Be mindful of the professional services you use online, especially when sharing sensitive information like credit card details or passwords. Ensure that any payment page has an SSL certificate, so customers know their data is secure and encrypted during transmission.
You can check this by looking for the lock symbol or “insecure” message next to the website’s URL. Protecting your SSL certificates ensures that no one will be able to steal or tamper with your customers’ data.
Work With a Reputable Registrar
Working with a reputable registrar is the best way to ensure that your website is not a target for professional cybercriminals. It guarantees control over the domain name and avoids any issues related to rogue WHOIS entries or SSL certificates.
Furthermore, if you work with professional DNS providers, they will provide an additional line of defense if professional cybercriminals manage to gain control over your website. By working with a professional registrar, you can be sure that all of the necessary security measures are in place to secure your domain name.
Always Monitor Expiration Dates
Ensure that you monitor your domain name’s expiration date. If it’s not renewed promptly, someone could snatch it up and use it for their purposes.
Working with a professional registrar will help you keep track of all critical dates and renew your domain name before it expires. A professional also helps in the case of an emergency, if for some reason, you are unable to renew your domain name yourself.
Trademark and Lock You Domain Name
If someone takes over your professional domain name, getting it back will be more difficult. A simple way around this is by trademarking or registering copyright for any content you’ve created under that professional domain name.
It applies even if you haven’t started using the professional domain name yet. Because anyone who purchases an infringing website would need to prove they didn’t know it was already trademarked, which makes the professional domain name that much more secure.
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Learn About Extensible Provisioning Protocol
You’ll also want to familiarize yourself with the extensible provisioning protocol. EPP is an international standard for registering, transferring, and managing professional domain names.
It’s a secure protocol that ensures your professional domain name information is protected from unauthorized access or changes until you decide to take action yourself. It’s important to know about EPP because your chosen registrar should support it.
Beware of Spam Scams
Finally, it is crucial to be aware of spam scams that may try to lure you into relinquishing your professional domain name. These schemes often promise big rewards in exchange for transferring your professional domain name over to their company or service.
Don’t fall for these scams. They’re just a way for cybercriminals to get their hands on your professional domain name without having to pay for it and use it for phishing and hacking purposes.
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Final Thoughts
Domain name theft can be a considerable issue for companies of all sizes. Make sure to use a reputable registrar and DNS provider, monitor expiration dates, familiarize yourself with EPP, and trademark your website content for extra security.
By taking the simple steps outlined in this article, you can protect your business’s online presence and ensure that your customers have a safe and secure experience when visiting your website.