You may be looking into or taking the first steps into establishing an online presence for your business or organization. However, hijackers may already be one step ahead of you, planning to take over the website domain you have been thinking about since creating your business plan.

Domain Hijacking/Spoofing: What is it?

You may be wondering: “What is a domain hijacker?” Think of a domain hijacker as a pirate who is trying to invade another ship. The pirate and their crew will storm onto the ship, taking anything and everything they can without caring for the other boat or patrons on board. Similar to pirates, domain hijackers will sit on a domain site or name in order to maintain control of it. This is done without the permission of the legitimate owner and is typically done by hijackers going into the domain itself and switching enrollment access. Hijackers will take advantage of this by attempting to coerce or blackmail original domain owners for money in exchange for the return of their website domain. To a hijacker, sitting on a domain is a way to gain access to the treasure they are searching for. Your domain can, unfortunately, be marked with a large, black “X”, looking ripe for the taking.

It is important to be proactive so that you can minimize the chance of this happening to you. There are many benefits to being proactive in your cybersecurity plan. This can include having increased awareness of cybersecurity issues that may come your way when you are looking into creating your own business. Many hijackers will go for easy targets, so businesses that are just starting up and may not know all of the details on maintaining a safe and secure domain may become easy prey for them.

You may also want to look into investing in cybersecurity insurance plans. Plans like those that Trava offers can help protect you if a circumstance like this were to occur to you or your business. They can intervene and work to regain access to your domain and make sure you are protected from future attempted access to your domain. Cyber insurance can also protect you from other varieties of cyberattacks, whether big or small.

Make sure you are on top of your domain and frequently check that you are still the owner. You may not realize it, but domains do expire unless they are maintained by the domain owner. Always make sure that you are not responding to emails about access to your domain unless it is someone that you know and trust. It can be easy for a hacker to gain access to your domain by using phishing techniques.

For more information on how to protect yourself and your business from the pirate’s life of domain hijackers, check out Trava!