Have you locked your domains yet?

There’s a new rule from ICANN which makes it pretty important to lock your domains. Basically, if a request to transfer your domain comes through, it will be honored unless you deny it within 5 days. This starts November 12, 2004, that is as of this writing, tomorrow!

Now the catch to this is that if for any reason the registrar cannot contact you, or you just miss the email, there goes your domain. Hijacked. And it won’t be easy to get back.

Now, you may be wondering how you can lock your domains. It’s very easy. Just go to the company where you registered it, log in and look for where you manage your domains. There should be a pretty easy place to set the locking feature, which means that the registrar will require a response from you before releasing a domain.

Now, does this mean you should transfer your domain immediately to a company offering higher security for your domain? No. Every company should offer locking, so just lock your domain and don’t worry about it.

But be extra aware of those little notices in your email. There are people out there trying to steal good domains.