It has been observed that when online businesses change names or merge with each other, old domains are compromised. Security researchers say that sometimes old domains lag behind in the field of activity and this causes danger. In online businesses that are very popular these days, the website name is considered a great asset, so it is necessary to protect it.

Internet fraudsters may create a fake store using an old domain name and carry out malicious operations by stealing credit card information or using domain email accounts. These people can have many motivations such as financial benefits, destroying competitor sites, access to customer data, etc. Thieves can commit theft by selling fake products or hacking users’ bank card information under the brand and domain name.

Domain renewal and protection may seem easy, but when the number of domains increases, this becomes one of the problems for domain owners.

What happens when a domain expires?

A domain has a life cycle after expiration. After the domain expires and is not renewed by the previous owner, it is released.

Internet fraudsters can obtain the released domain names and their validity by searching online and re-register them for their malicious purposes. It is interesting to keep in mind that many robots are programmed to register the domain as soon as it is released.

Expired domain can start as a fake online store.

Internet criminal gangs turn expired domains into phishing sites. This harms businesses that have lost their domain because it allows cyber thieves to break into their business. Australian cyber security researchers (Iron Bastion) discovered last year that registrations of expired domains belonging to business and law firms led to the publication of confidential customer emails and data. By changing the email password of the domains, the thieves obtained the information of social media, banking, etc. and attempted to launder money.

What is the duty of domains that are not used?

Security experts say that the best way to protect old domains is to renew them, even if you are not currently using them, but renewing them makes sense. Otherwise, you should close email accounts associated with those domains and separate those email accounts from alerts sent by banks, airlines, and other services that contain sensitive and valuable information.

If you don’t need to renew the domain according to the conditions, you should inform your subscribers about the end of your work using a warning email and ask them to delete the old email address.

Domain email addresses must have a strong password that cannot be easily guessed. On the other hand, for e-mails, use the two-step identity verification that after changing the password, the confirmation will be sent via SMS, phone, etc.

How to protect all your domains?

In order to guarantee online businesses and prevent risks that may occur after the domain expires, it is suggested that you always maintain and maintain domains carefully. Below are the things that can reduce the probability of the problem:

Long-term extension of the domain

If you renew your domains for more than one year, you will reduce the possibility of forgetting the renewal time. On the other hand, a long-term extension of the domain can increase the validity of the domain for search engines and have a better impact on the ranking.

Update your domain information

If identity information such as contact number, email address, etc. changes, update this information for your domain. According to the new GDPR law, the identity information of domain registrants is hidden from public view. This in itself contributes greatly to the security of the domain. Without domain privacy, your name, email address, and other personal information are exposed. This can put you at risk of spam, fraud and harassment.

Activate the automatic renewal feature

If your domain panel has provided you with the possibility of automatic domain renewal, it is suggested to activate this mode so that you don’t have to worry about domain expiration.

Lock the domains

Be sure to check that after registration, renewal and transfer, the domains are locked from the domain panel. By doing this step, it is not possible to transfer without your approval.

Register the domains in reputable companies so that regular renewal invoices are sent

In order to achieve this goal, hosting companies usually send the renewal invoice 2 weeks before the expiration date and notify via email and SMS.

How to make sure that the domain name has not expired?

It is important to understand that domain name registration is always temporary and subject to payment of renewal fees. No matter who you are and what your domain is, you have to pay renewal fees to keep your domain name.

Here are some ways to prevent domain expiration.

Turn on your renewal reminder notifications.

When you initially purchase a domain name, you can pay for different time periods.

If you have prepaid for the domain name for the next three years. After these three years, it is unlikely that you will remember to renew your domain name yourself. A better option is to enable your renewal email notification and keep your email address up to date.

Enable auto-renew.

An even safer way to make sure your domain doesn’t expire is to set your account to auto-renew. This means that when the domain name is about to expire, the registrar will automatically charge your account for the renewal fee and the website will not face the risk of being disrupted or unavailable.

If you have set your account to auto-renew, remember to check your billing information from time to time. Most registrars will email you if your credit card information is out of date or expired, so you have time to update it before the renewal date.

Register all your domains with the same registrar.

If you have more than one domain name, keeping track of them can be challenging. A great way to make sure none of them expire is to transfer all your domain names to one registry and one user account. In this way, all domain names are kept in one safe place and connected to one credit card.

What dangers threaten a domain?

One of the common methods is to register domains that are spelled close to the domains of reputable brands. In this method, profit-seeking people register the domain with the aim that the user’s typing error can increase the site’s incoming traffic. This method is not only related to domain misspellings, but different domain extensions that match your brand name will also be attacked.

Hacking your domain registrar is a big concern. Sometimes some registrars do not provide the necessary security measures to protect your domains and provide cheap and unsupported panels to domain owners. Domain registration in such panels is very risky. Try to set security items on your domain. Request DNSSEC from your domain registrar. DNSSEC adds additional security to your DNS by attaching digital signatures to your domain’s DNS information.

Conclusion

If you have a registered brand and your online business is very important, pay attention to your website domain name. Try to register your website domains with different TLDs and renew them earlier than the expiration date.

Choose the email registered on your domain, an address that is not under the domain name so that hackers cannot access the domain information by hacking the host information. Also, try to hide your domain’s WHOIS from public view to maintain the security of your domain.