You are likely to hear this from other blogs you read but I think it does serve as a wakeup for the rest of us. Popular web designer David Airey has had his domain stolen
As many of you know, I left for vacation last month. In hindsight, I should’ve kept this information private.
On the day I left, a hacker logged into my webhost support site and asked for the details to transfer the www.davidairey.com domain.
Ordinarily, this wouldn’t have allowed them to steal my domain, but they must also have had access to my Gmail account, from where they could verify the transfer. The passwords were different, and it’s one of those things I’d love to know how it was done.
What can you do?
- Do not use the same passwords for anything
- Always use strong, non-dictionary passwords
- Lock all your domains in your domain control panel to prevent transfers
- Use a reputable host and domain company
- Even on vacation check your mail 🙁
Number 4 is a tricky one because while lots of people swear by GoDaddy this is not the first time I have heard of GoDaddy allowing a domain to be swiped right under the owners nose.
Got any other tips to share?