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Domain Theft-for-Ransom Hits css-tricks.com and Others

Posted by timothy on from the low-down-dirty-rotten dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Chris Coyer at css-tricks.com has had his domain transferred from GoDaddy.com to a registrar in Australia where it's being held for ransom. Several other domains have experienced the same theft by what seems to be the same person, and the registrars seem helpless to do anything about it."

7 of 147 comments (clear)

  1. Don't Use GoDaddy by sexconker · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Don't use GoDaddy.
    If you needed any more reasons to stay far away from GoDaddy and their shitty advertising, RTFA.

            So far they have found this has happened to around 12 accounts, all within the "Web Design" genre (so most likely a targeted attack).
            There is no accessible log from with your GoDaddy account to see what/when things happened.
            They do [claim to] have access logs, but they can't [won't] share that information with me.
            The domain was transferred away from GoDaddy the evening of Nov 20th
            They [claim to] have, but cannot [won't] provide me with, the email address used to transfer the domain away.
            GoDaddy confirmed my global account email has never been changed, but it WAS changed for the domain css-tricks.com prior to the move.
            The request to unlock the domain happened on Nov. 14th at 4:30pm Mountain Time. Normally there is a 5-7 day waiting period, but GoDaddy offers instant transfer and they remarked that it was unusual that the hacker chose not to do that.
            They confirmed no other domains have left my account.

    [Stuff in brackets is mine.]

    1. Re:Don't Use GoDaddy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Don't use GoDaddy.

      To be fair, this wasn't strictly a GoDaddy Issue. TFA stated:

      This is not isolated to GoDaddy. Original registrants varied, see below.

      Which then listed multiple GoDaddy's, a 1and1.com, and a NetworkSolutions.com. This sounds more like the fact that GoDaddy happens to be the big horse (ala Microsoft) so it's likely going to be attacked me most. Not using GoDaddy might be good advice but it seems like it's also not a guarantee.

      The bigger issue is that there's no authoritative way to quickly re-gain such lost domains. And domain name disputes are always a huge PITA. Given the value of a domain name and how easy it is to sit on it once stolen, costing some business tons of money, I wouldn't be surprised if this starts happening more.

      One thing that keeps popping out is the fact that they're all being xfered to PlanetDomain.com. ICANN needs to revoke their ability to register domains.

  2. Gmail problem by Albanach · · Score: 5, Interesting

    it looks like the big problem here is that 4 years on it's still apparently possible for websites to silently create filters on gmail accounts if a logged in user visits their site. That effectively allows a malicious site to compromise hosting accounts, bank accounts and much more.

    1. Re:Gmail problem by houstonbofh · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It is only temporary... Go ahead and moderate. Read at -1 and just give points to people unfairly trolled.

  3. Re:So out of curiosity, by Urza9814 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If only I had mod points. Gandi is by far and without a doubt the best domain registrar out there. Hell, if they were double or even triple the price of GoDaddy, I'd still be using them. (From what I've seen their prices are on par with everyone else.)

  4. Same thing happened back in 2000 to me and others by Nethead · · Score: 5, Interesting

    http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2000/01/33571

    Network Solutions' administrative policies are once again being blamed for Internet domain hijackings that took at least brief control over some major Web domains.
    Beginning Saturday, an unidentified individual began attempts, some successful, to seize control over domains including major Web hosting service Exodus, Web standards body World Wide Web Consortium and Emory University.
    And all the misappropriation required was a simple spoofing of email addresses.

    The only good thing about it was getting my name in Wired.

    --
    -- I have a private email server in my basement.
  5. Re:Umm.... by wygit · · Score: 4, Interesting

    And the perps haven't deprived the victims of their property? Not sure what you mean here.

    With copyright infringement, the original owners still have their stuff. With this, the victim doesn't.