Moniker is Done

[labrocca]

As many know the registrar Moniker was sold to a new company at the beginning of the summer. Before this sale it was my main registrar for hundreds of domains. I had good security and decent support during a 10 year period as one of their first customers back when Monte ran the show and started the company. It was sold to Snapnames at some point but not many changes were made that were a detriment.

However this recent sale has imho destroyed the registrar completely. It took me a few months to get all domains moved but it was vital I did so. Security has gone to hell. My account was compromised multiple times and they seemingly refuse to explain. I get replies about how my emails or password must be compromised which is IMPOSSIBLE. I'm 100% secure on my end. I tried multiple times in detail to explain this fact to them but no dice. Apparently extra users were added to my account and somehow people are logging in even as recent as this week. Yet my password and emails are definitely secure.

Sean Love is suppose to be their support rep supervisor and even though I requested multiple times to speak directly with him, the best I got was a rather generic email from him about how it appears my email was compromised and I need to reset it to regain my account. Total and utter nonsense.

I've wasted countless hours since the sale and had my main sites redirected after DNS changes I did not authorize even though I have portfolio maxlock. They couldn't explain any of it but what's worse is they just didn't bother investigating fully. So my confidence in their security is zero and all my domains are now at different registrars with modern security features like 2FA as well as better customer support.

I'm done with Moniker forever. I suggest those who use them now consider a move unless you don't value your domains. If you're thinking about using Moniker to register new domains. Please reconsider. No one with an ounce of sense should be using this company any more.

 

[labrocca]

I tried to warn Moniker. The disrespect they showed my warning is indicative of the type of company they now are. You can see from my original post how adamant I was that my account from my end was 100% secure. They dismissed me. A supervisor never called me to investigate further my claims. These people are IDIOTS and I hope that Moniker falls into the abyss like RegisterFly.

I don't think this is Shellshock because I was reporting this problem long before that bug was discovered and released. They're just too stupid to do forensics and fix their bugs. But if I was to tell them that they wouldn't believe it again either so what's the point. These people are inept.

For those with suspicious logins. Check to see if any extra user accounts were created. That's what they did with my account and I suspect that's the origin of the exploit. For all I know they can use tamper data to alter the input of adding an extra user onto any account simply with a uid change to the input. Tried to point them in the right direction on this.

After I left I told Moniker to delete my account. Glad I did so.

If anyone plans a class-action against Moniker LMK. I'm in. You should see by my own contacts with them that a security breach had occurred and they REFUSED to do anything about it. That's negligence. It's cost us all time and money and for me it's caused personal anguish and suffering. These mother F'n clowns should be put down and suffer just as much as we have. The hatred I now feel for this company is off the charts.

Looks like I got out just in time.

Edit: Looks like Moniker created a new account and the account I had is now a sub account (been a while since my last login). The sub accounts that they changed passwords for, can't change passwords on.

That's what I told them.That a new account I did not create existed. That account somehow was able to get added and bypass their portfolio maxlock. I warned them explicitely of this but they did ZERO investigation into it. I can prove NEGLIGENCE just on the contacts I sent them.

As for credentials...Moniker used UIDs for their customer account numbers that were incremental. So account number 1000, 1001, 1002 could easily be checked. These are not based on random usernames. They are number uid's which any hacker can exploit a LOT easier to find login credentials.

88.150.178.59 is a datacenter probably VPN for anonymity. My logins were from Egypt and Lebanon. I could very well have been the first exploited account as I'm often a personal target of these things. Once I left though my guess is that exploit was sold in the blackhat community and use maliciously across multiple accounts.

But again...Moniker was warned. They were told. They were given an opportunity to investigate this and probably stop it. They IGNORED ME and the clear danger to all their customers.

Anyone who lost high profile expensive domains and needs me to testify I'll be very very very happy to do so. I can go to a lawyer and get an affidavit.

Punish these clowns people. Make an example of them to the Registrar community that security comes first and you don't ignore ANY possible breach. Yes, I'm mad and angry over this.

Looking over my contacts it appears on August 27 my account was stolen. I log into it weekly to make sure it's secure. One day my domains were redirected and I knew I had a problem at Moniker. I could still login which was nice. However upon checking I saw DNS changes to my domains and I'm like "WTF, I have portfolio maxlock and only with my 100% secure security questions can they do that". I call Moniker immediately. I was able to undo the DNS changes but HOW did they do that was the question. IP logs showed the login from Egypt and Lebanon. But then I finally saw the extra user account and I KNEW that was the breach.

I have the contacts still from Moniker. IMHO they are 100% proof of their serious negligence.

Anyone in media wishing to ask me questions please feel free to contact me via PM. Anyone going after Moniker legally should also contact me. I'll be super happy to help with what I know and my experience. This could have EASILY been prevented if they had simply not ignored my very clear warning about this exploit.

I gotta end this rant. I can go on all day. Sorry for the long read.

 

[carob]

Moniker have sent customers an email admitting domains were stolen but saying they have identified which ones.

We take all reasonable steps to ensure the protection of domain names managed on our platform and understand that the safety and security of your assets is of upmost importance. With that in mind, we constantly assess system vulnerabilities and work towards quick resolutions to known issues.

In the past several weeks, we have seen suspicious activity on our platform which included login attempts to various accounts from unknown sources. We have reason to believe credentials to the accounts in questions may have been obtained through exploitation of the Heartbleed Bug published earlier this year.

In addition to suspicious activity, there have been brute force attacks against Moniker accounts resulting in unauthorized domain name transfers. Our staff is working diligently to identify instances of unauthorized transfers and to revert them as soon as possible. To date, we have recovered any domain that was transferred without authorization.

More info and numbers for the Monkier exodus here https://www.namepros.com/threads/mo...ins-to-transfers-in-june.835719/#post-4713568

I was telling people to avoid Moniker years ago because they clearly had no interest in fixing reported bugs or improving their systems - I expected it to keep getting worse. It's ironic that they chose to make it truly worse by creating new systems.

 

[RaiderGirl]

I never understood why domainers favored this Registrar to begin with, It was the "Domainer Registrar" with a interface that sucked, I had a hell of time transferring out ymy own domains, part of their "great security" con job, and support took it's sweet time getting back to me, And later when they got too big and partnered with Snapnames, you HAD to use them for any domains won at Snap auctions, and if you wanted to sell at TRAFFIC you had to move ALL the auction names there, otherwise pay an additional 5% commission... Moniker's way of "winning your business"

 

[labrocca]

At one point Moniker was run by competent people trying hard to offer security and support to professional domainers. Moniker was sold and support suffered. Moniker was sold again and now security has suffered. But there was a point when Moniker was one of the top choices. Obviously Moniker has lost their good reputation but for some years they did well.

 

[Acroplex]

In 2004-2006 Moniker was impossible to transfer domains out of without a lot of hassle. It was a fort, ran by Monte. It was not my registrar of choice but for the small portfolio I kept there it was ok. Resold twice, Moniker has become a paradigm of what not to do as a domain registrar.

 

[Fonzie]

https://www.namepros.com/threads/the-how-to-lodge-an-icann-complaint-against-moniker-thread.837667/

How to file an ICANN complaint against them.

 

[xrvel]

Check your IP logs - bottom left column of your account - for any suspicious logins around 9/23/2014

On my abandoned account, i have one Serbian IP at that time. LOL. Thank god i've left moniker.

 

[Keith]

I won a domain at Snap 3 weeks ago and it was placed at Moniker. Now Whois says client hold and server hold. I would love to know what's going on but reaching support is just about impossible.

 

[mobilespecialists]

I'm dissapointed of their new interface (not the logic but it lists domains as available that can not be delivered later) and of the service (if you already paid for such a domain you do not get then they have themoney but do not refund automatically. To compare - in a similar care 101domain made a refund within hours. Moniker just added the money to my account balance - but I payd for a particular domain not "any domain". I asked them to send money back. I wait now almost 2 weeks and some of my massages they simply ignored. How long can a company keep your money legally before they have to do a refund? I hope I get it back). Very dissapointing.

 

[mobilespecialists]

Finally received my refund from Moniker. Would be better if they inform people that it takes so long. I think if they do not change this custom service issues and do not make things much faster and easy they will loose clients.

 

[Tia Wood]

I finally moved my domains out of Moniker. I was such a fan. But now their control panel is amazingly non-user friendly and too many customer service issues.

 

[Argentum]

Moved out all domains from Moniker. Stay away from this clowns. Lost one of my valuable domains at them as it was not possible to renew it on their control panel which is considered as worst on market.

 

[lukedomain]

Had a few domains there as well. I actually signed up here to post a fun conversation with them. Worst registrar ever around now. I still have some funds on there which they don't want to refund me. I will never use them again