I learned a very important security issue about website hijacking tonight and wanted to share it as soon as possible. It seems there has been a lot of domain stealing going on around the web and after what I just heard and who I heard it from I knew there was no one that is immune to this problem.
Website Hacking and Theft
Over the past couple of years I have had a couple of close associates who run fairly large and popular websites tell of their horror stories of being hacked and violated. This recent story was even more serious because literally the site has been stolen. Fortunately the website thieves have not shut this person out of the site so they are able to work on backing up and trying to resolve the issue through the hosting service but the problem is serious and time and money is being spent.
How Do You Know Your Domain Has Been Stolen?
The question I had was how did they know the site had been stolen if there was not really any thing different on the surface. The answer was they had no idea it had happened. They found out through someone else who had been violated as well and somehow knew my associates site was hijacked. That is how serious this issue is, you don't even know you don't own your virtual real estate anymore. They can steal it without you even knowing and then one day, its gone into thin virtual air.
Gmail Website Hijacking – Is That The Only Problem?
The problem in this situation was not a hosting issue like you may think. The host was secure. The problem was Google Gmail. The website thieves steal your Gmail password and get into your Gmail account and gain access to your passwords and God knows what else. Maybe some valuable identity information??? Are you seeing the seriousness of this problem a little clearer now.
When I heard this I quickly remembered about 2 months ago getting a notification that my Gmail account was trying to be accessed by someone else and to change my password. I was on a different computer at the time and thought it might be something to do with that. I changed my password at the time but when I heard this story I knew exactly what the issue was.
Do The 2 Step And Sleep Like A Baby
As I looked into Google a little deeper and found they had started a tighter 2 step verification process to offer more security to your account I realized this has become a very big problem and the best thing to do is to take advantage of the tighter security process. I would urge you to do this as well.
It is painless and takes about 10 minutes. Even if you do not have a website and have no worries of website hijacking we all know the horrors of identity theft and making sure your Gmail account is secure is one vital step to securing your identity.
If you have virtual real estate (website domains) I would suggest taking a look at the behind the scenes information and making sure you are still the owner of the domains.
The first thing to do is to go to Whois.net and make sure you still have ownership of your site. Once you determine you still own it then proceed with the Google lock down.
You can start the 2 Step Verification Process Here.
Go here and get this done NOW!!! Google 2 Step Verification
I would love to hear from you. Share some stories of website theft or when you complete the verification process, what the experience was for you – easy – not so easy – ….
Look at this and know you were more effective than you think.
I havent yet been able to download the Cevhershare sidebar, but most other things are patched together and I am connecting with linked in, facebook and twitter.
Next chang=ce I get, I just might need some advice.
You will never know how you have inspired me, but dont feel bad if you think ive done a lousey job….