Introduction
Understanding what is domain hijacking means investigating how domain resellers and business owners can lose control of their domain name and what consequences this brings.
In fact, a domain name is the foundation of your online presence, your customer trust, and often your business identity.
Resellers, full-service agencies and hosting providers need to pay particular attention to the risk of hijacking, as this threat may impact their portfolios, with subsequent cascade damages for their clients.
This article unpacks the key risks and offers proven, actionable strategies to protect your domains, your clients, and your business.
Understanding domain hijacking
Domain hijacking refers to the unauthorized access or transfer of a domain name without the consent of its rightful owner.
It typically involves exploiting vulnerabilities in domain registration processes, account security, or registrar systems.
Once hijacked, regaining control of a domain can be complex and time-consuming, especially if the attacker uses privacy features or transfers the domain across multiple registrars.
Risks associated with domain hijacking
The impact of domain hijacking goes far beyond the inconvenience of lost access.
For businesses that rely on their online presence to attract and serve clients, the consequences can be immediate and severe.
Reputational damage
A hijacked domain can be used to host malicious content, phishing pages, or fake storefronts, all of which can erode customer trust and damage your brand’s credibility.
For domain resellers, agencies, and hosting providers, the reputational fallout can affect every client linked to your services.
As domain hijacking can affect your clients just as much as your own business.
A security incident on one account can cast doubt on your ability to protect the rest, increasing churn and damaging long-term client relationships.
Operational disruption
When your domain is hijacked, associated services, like email, website hosting, or DNS, obviously go offline, or worse, start operating differently than planned.
Financial loss
Downtime costs money. But the indirect costs, like loss of leads, emergency legal or security expenses, and extended recovery timelines, can multiply and add up quickly.
In the worst-case scenario, hijacked domains might be ransomed back or irreversibly lost.
Legal and compliance issues
Hijacked domains may breach data protection laws or violate client contracts.
As security and privacy regulations tighten globally, domain owners, especially in Europe, face growing legal pressure to ensure domain integrity.
Complementarily, the European Commission has recently published a list of real hijacking cases, reinforcing the importance of relying on a trusted domain provider.
How domain hijacking occurs
Understanding how domain hijacking happens is the first step to building a more secure domain management strategy.
While attacks can take different forms, most hijackings exploit weak links in account security, outdated registrar processes, or lack of domain oversight.
Phishing and social engineering
Attackers often use targeted phishing emails or calls to trick users into revealing login credentials or authentication codes.
Once they gain access to your domain registrar account, they can modify settings or initiate a transfer.
Weak or reused passwords
Simple passwords, or reusing the same one across multiple services, makes brute-force or credential stuffing attacks much easier. And, with the rise of AI, these types of hacking become more and more easy to deploy.
Without two-factor authentication (2FA), even a guessed password could hand over your domain.
Compromised registrar systems
In rare cases, vulnerabilities in the registrar’s platform can be exploited to bypass normal authorization procedures.
That’s why working with a security-certified registrar is critical.
Good to know – Openprovider ensures certified security against domain hijacking through ISO 27001 compliance, ICANN accreditation, and robust platform safeguards.
Outdated WHOIS or contact details
Attackers can exploit outdated contact information in WHOIS records to gain approval for unauthorized transfers.
If you don’t respond to a registrar’s change request or confirmation email in time, your domain could be moved without your consent.
Unauthorized registrar transfer requests
Some hijackers initiate a domain transfer request by posing as the rightful owner.
Without domain locking and registrar notifications in place, the transfer can proceed undetected, especially if domain monitoring isn’t active.
Lack of DNS or account monitoring
Domains without active monitoring are especially vulnerable. Changes in nameservers, registrant data, or DNS records can go unnoticed until service disruption occurs: by then, the hijack is already in progress.
As ICANN underlines, documentation here is the keyword.
Preventative measures against domain hijacking
Domain hijacking can be prevented, but only with a proactive, layered approach to security.
The following best practices will help protect your digital assets and preserve trust with your clients.
Choose a reputable, security-focused registrar
Start with the right partner. Your registrar should be ICANN-accredited, ISO-certified, and offer modern security features like DNSSEC, two-factor authentication, and automated abuse monitoring.
Registrars like Openprovider not only meet these criteria but also offer dedicated support and audit-ready systems for compliance-conscious businesses.
Enable two-factor authentication (2FA)
Always enable 2FA for your registrar account and encourage all team members with access to do the same. This simple step drastically reduces the risk of unauthorized access, even if passwords are compromised.
Use domain locking
A domain lock prevents unauthorized transfers by requiring additional steps to verify and approve any changes to domain settings. Most registrars offer this feature: make sure it’s enabled for every active domain.
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Keep WHOIS and contact information up to date
Outdated administrative contact details are a common vulnerability.
Always ensure your registrant, admin, and technical contacts are correct and monitored, especially for critical domain names.
Monitor domain activity regularly
Use registrar tools, third-party monitors, or your own internal systems to watch for changes in DNS, registrant data, or transfer status. At Openprovider, for example, our control panel allows real-time visibility across your entire portfolio.
Enable DNSSEC where supported
DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions) helps prevent attackers from redirecting traffic by signing DNS records cryptographically. While not all TLDs support it, enabling DNSSEC where available adds a vital layer of integrity to your domain’s routing.
Good to know – with Premium DNS you can enable secure and fast networks with 99,99% uptime
Consolidate domain management
Managing domains across multiple registrars increases complexity and risk.
Consider consolidating your portfolio under a single, secure platform with a proven track record. Openprovider’s fully assisted transfer service makes this easy, even at scale.
Audit user access and permissions
Limit domain access to only those who need it. Define clear roles, remove inactive accounts, and use audit logs to track changes.
A clean, well-managed account environment reduces the surface area for attacks.
Conclusions
As domains become more valuable assets, they also become more attractive targets.
That’s why prevention must be baked into every part of your domain strategy, from the registrar you choose to the way you manage access and monitor changes.
At Openprovider, we believe domain security should never be an afterthought: with ICANN accreditation, ISO 27001 certification, and more than 20 years of experience supporting businesses like yours, we help you protect what matters most: your brand, your clients, and your digital infrastructure.
