Domain theft over secure connection?

[nimboz]

Hi,

I've heard (and still do) many domain theft stories, some were stolen by the registrars (GoDaddy etc..) themselves..

However, they all seem to use SSL, I wonder how could they steal data over a secure connection?

TIA

 

[shockie]

ssl's are mainly to encrypt data that is sent over the internet (credit card numbers!) so there are still many ways for registrars to "steal" domains... although it's usually caused by careless domain owners or very shady domain stealing pplzness.

 

[nimboz]

Hmm...I'm talking about when you search/research a domain, proceed to checkout, and find out that its JUST been registered.

 

[DomainMayhem.com]

This has been talked about to death. There are about 10 threads on this subject, do a search and you'll find the answers to your questions.

 

[AzN]

RE:
Hmm...I'm talking about when you search/research a domain, proceed to checkout, and find out that its JUST been registered.

If this domain was recently dropped, it could also been picked up by a taster or another domainer or user.

Or simply someone else registered it elsewhere.

Do note:
Godaddy uses cached whois and it is not live.
Try moniker.com for live whois.

 

[maximum]

Hi,

I've heard (and still do) many domain theft stories, some were stolen by the registrars (GoDaddy etc..) themselves..

However, they all seem to use SSL, I wonder how could they steal data over a secure connection?

TIA

As DomainMayhem.com mentioned, there are alot of threads here on the boards about it. I tried fast (sorry little time..may again later) to find one, but didn't. A little vigilance and you can. Many NPers complian about this, as more and more registrars are doing this shady, unethical, and most would argue illegal (against their agreements with ICANN), practice. Even the formerly-more-trusted Moniker.com has been accused of this by some domainers.

As to SSL..what does that stop? Registrar is just like me. You use my site with SSL, I can see everything you do/enter. SSL just prevents others monitoring your connections or my server's connections from reading it. Your browser and my server both see everything, otherwise SSL wouldn't do any good. You search that registrar for a domain with SSL, they see the name, otherwise how could they search for it?

A few articles about "Front-running", as this is called:

Definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_name_front_running

Netork Solutions (oldest registrar and root-registry for .com and .net - they have openly admitted to doing this to an extent, albeit they try to justify it): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netsol#Controversy_over_domain_name_front_running

General Article: http://blog.domaintools.com/2007/10/domain-name-front-running/

There are arguments amongst domainers rather or not certain companies do this practice (read articles), as its hard to prove if they sell domain to some domain cybersquatter before anyone checks if domain was in hands of the registrar first. But, below are a few registrars I have read nothing about, concerning this issue, and whom I believe are safe to do searches from:

www.gkg.net : Do not click their site's links to whois, as they do not currently use SSL links for whois (I need to tell them about this :p). Instead type-in or go directly to https://www.gkg.net/whois (SSL) manually. I use Godaddy.com as my registrar for most names, because of huge discounts I get (but never for searches). However, I use GKG.net for my personal and most valuable names. They were the 7th registrar accredited by ICANN, and while they are very small compared to many (only have about 195k names registered: #61 currently on RegistrarStats.com) - never been ones for advertising - word of mouth of loyal customers- I'd trust them with countless multi-million dollar domains without hesitation. They are not the cheapest (you get what pay for, sometimes), but their support is way beyond par, security is simple as they come (albeit pushing a name means changing each contact individually) while being tight as they come (they have never lost a name, even temporarily). Simple login, and you can do anything; but, they take very serious any claims of fradulant account activity. Their CEO would probably be the first to yell "Foul!" about front-running by registrars.

www.dotster.com : By no means cheap ($15.25 .com), but well respected registrar. They have even made open comments on front-running: http://www.dotster.com/about/front_running . They have some 3+ million domains under them. Their customer service leaves a bit lacking (great folks and always helpful, but sometimes slow). Once again, one of those where you get what you pay for, by not paying as cheap as we all seek domains for. Their security is fairly well respected, yet user interfaces are a bit non-customer friendly for newcomers. They use SSL for all searches, and can be trusted not only not to grab your name when you search for it, but to also safe-guard it when you do register it.

www.fabulous.com : Another registrar that is considered safe as they come. Their security is also top-notch, with several checks (multi-user-created questions must be answered to perform certain actions, on-top of normal pw/username), but can be cumbersome at times. This registrar holds names for some of the biggest domain holders in the business (many that hold those names we all think worth millions but who never sell them), and some of the most valuable domains out there. They, however, require "a portfolio of more than 50 domains, comprised predominantly of commercial English language .com domains with type-in value (although high quality portfolios of any size will be considered).". Customer service is a breaze to work with, and they have an excellent parking/PCC program. They have some 1.33+ million names (#12 on RegistrarStats.com). Their domain searches, however, do not use SSL, except from within members' control panels, which does use SSL.

Disclaimer: The above comments about the listed registrars are only my humble opinions. Some may disagree, as users are entitled to. There are many other fine registrars out there: I know, I've used alot of them. But, these are ones I recommend for those serious about the domains in their portfolio.

 

[labrocca]

That's not stealing btw.

 

[Dave_Z]

That's not stealing btw.

Yup. Can't be helped some folks feel otherwise, even though it's not factually
correct.

And even if registrars make their search queries through SSL, they can't do a
thing if the user's computer feeds stuff to 3rd parties anyway.

 

[RazorNF]

www.fabulous.com : Another registrar that is considered safe as they come. Their security is also top-notch, with several checks (multi-user-created questions must be answered to perform certain actions, on-top of normal pw/username), but can be cumbersome at times.

Yes, I agree Fabulous is quite security oriented and their interface is as slick as they come. The parking is also great for specific niches. But do remember, they are a huge domaining company and it should not come as a surprise that they likely mine their own databases for stats and ideas on what names to acquire.

So do keep that in mind and cover all your bases before you reg/park with them - get all the top tld's if you think you have a good name on your hands... or they will. I had a bunch of names with them, and down the road I went to reg the same names under another tld, and found they already regged them all at the same time under the company DomainActive Pty.

but to get back on the OP's topic, though I have read threads before on some registrars monitoring searches or selling search data... I've never heard of something like that happening so fast, from search to checkout... but as Azn pointed out, it could just be a matter of godaddy's cached whois.

 

[nimboz]

maximum, you pretty much answered everythign! Many thanks.

I do have a fabulous account.

Thanks again.

 

[maximum]

Yes, I agree Fabulous is quite security oriented and their interface is as slick as they come. The parking is also great for specific niches. But do remember, they are a huge domaining company and it should not come as a surprise that they likely mine their own databases for stats and ideas on what names to acquire.

So do keep that in mind and cover all your bases before you reg/park with them - get all the top tld's if you think you have a good name on your hands... or they will. I had a bunch of names with them, and down the road I went to reg the same names under another tld, and found they already regged them all at the same time under the company DomainActive Pty.

but to get back on the OP's topic, though I have read threads before on some registrars monitoring searches or selling search data... I've never heard of something like that happening so fast, from search to checkout... but as Azn pointed out, it could just be a matter of godaddy's cached whois.

Thanks for the heads-up on Fabulous...atleast something to watch-out for to see if they are playing the game to some small extent too :?

maximum, you pretty much answered everythign! Many thanks.

I do have a fabulous account.

Thanks again.

You're more than welcome :blink:

 

[Mike Robertson]

Yes, I agree Fabulous is quite security oriented and their interface is as slick as they come. The parking is also great for specific niches. But do remember, they are a huge domaining company and it should not come as a surprise that they likely mine their own databases for stats and ideas on what names to acquire.

Hi guys,

I just saw this post and thought I would comment. As a publicly listed company, I can assure you that we do not act in either an unethical or unprofessional manner.

Being a domain portfolio owner, we are always registering new names. As we have been in the business for some time now, we have a lot of historical data/metrics we use to determine fresh registrations. I can guarantee that we do not use data from third party domains registered/parked with us to assist any registrations we may do.

If there are any questions or concerns, please let me know.

Cheers,

Mike
Fabulous.com

 

[maximum]

Mike,

:tu: Thanks for speaking up on the issue.

 

[John Mauriello]

Moniker.com does not sell your keystroke or search data or participate in front running. There are registrars out there that sell this data to registrants that then register names at various registrars including moniker.


Regards,
John Mauriello
[email protected]
954-861-3536
800-688-6311 Ext. 3536
FAX: 954-984-0209
ICQ: 341620056 AIM: monikermaurie
MSN: [email protected]