BrandShelter provides extensive domain services to facilitate the registration of domain names under all TLDs and the management of your domain name portfolio.
BrandShelter makes it possible for you to register and manage your global domain name portfolio in one secure and easy-to-use location. Our team analyzes your domain portfolio and creates a tailor-made solution for your company.
BrandShelter provides a worldwide domain registration service under all ccTLDs and new TLDs. Our web interface allows the centralized management and consolidation of your entire domain portfolio in one user-friendly application. We offer regular workshops on the topic of domain registration, portfolio management, and strategy implementation.
Some registries require a local contact address as a part of their registration requirements. To fulfill these special requirements, BrandShelter offers Local Presence Services. This service is only one of BrandShelter’s acquisition services:
BrandShelter offers both analysis and troubleshooting in DNS zones as well as solid solutions for your domains. With many years of experience in providing DNS solutions to our clients, we understand that your DNS solution must be reliable and secure.
SSL certificates enable data exchange between the server and a computer to be accessed. BrandShelter offers a variety of SSL certificates from various vendors. Whatever your level of need for certificates, BrandShelter offers a solution.
Create relevant domains with a custom extension for your brand. We can provide end-to-end support from concept to Golive, including the technical registry operation tailored to your needs. Allow us to keep you informed about the new TLD application windows of ICANN.
Our reliable systems and various security settings ensure that your domain portfolio is safe with BrandShelter. We collaborate with reputable partners to analyze and provide security solutions. We care for your domains as if they were our own.
Domain security is the ideal state in which a domain is optimally protected against criminal activities. Cyber-crime has long since entered the minds of users, and with it terms such as "hacking" and "spam", and a security leak on a corporate site through which data has been tapped can cause considerable damage to a company's reputation and revenues. The loss of the domain, whether through unprofessional domain management or the hijacking of the domain name (hijacking) are also scenarios that domain owners should be aware of. In order to increase domain security and effectively protect their domain portfolio, a brand owner can take various measures (PDF).
Yes, your domain can be stolen. When a domain is stolen, known as domain hijacking or pharming, the registration details of a domain name are changed without the knowledge or permission of the domain holder. This is possible, for example, by illegally accessing the systems of the hosting provider or the registrar.
The consequences for the domain owner can be devastating. From a financial point of view, they lose the income generated by the website or email accounts created under this domain. From a business perspective, however, a hijacked domain can also be used explicitly to reduce the value of a trademark. The hijacked domain can be used for illegal activities such as phishing attacks and, thanks to an identical-looking website, it can be used, for example, to steal customers' login data, send spam, spread malware and infringe your intellectual property, which would cause considerable damage to your reputation and revenues.
There are various legal ways to recover a stolen domain. However, since these measures can take a long time, during which the reputation of the company or brand may already have suffered considerable damage, it is advisable to protect domains from hijacking in advance.
First of all, it is important to make it as difficult as possible for cyber criminals to access their target domains. They’ll often try to exploit the email address used to manage the domain account as a starting point for hacking the account. Since registries have to publish the contact details of each domain holder, brand owners can and should protect their data and especially their email addresses from the eyes of cyber criminals by hiring service providers to manage this information and forward all contact requests. The service provider will then use their contact details in place of the brand owner's contact details, with no change of ownership. Since there are ways to view the history of changes to the domain record, it is important to stop using legacy email addresses once you have anonymised your details. At best, a separate email address of an SMTP email account is used, which is only used for the administration of domain names.
Domains have a finite registration period before they expire, and most brand owners choose to have automatic renewal enabled for each domain, preventing their unintended expiry and use by a third party. However, automatic renewal will only work if payment processes (correct payment data, sufficient credit balance…) are valid, and this merits the checking of payment status on a regular basis.
Domain hijacking can also be committed or supported by employees or former employees. Access rights to this sensitive data should therefore be granted with caution, and regularly updated. As soon as the domain is no longer administered directly by the brand owner but by employees or service providers, an approval procedure for changing domain data should be established.
The domain name is one of the most valuable assets of a company that needs to be maintained in order not to lose it accidentally or through illegal activities.
Best practice dictates that the domain registration details reflect the company and / or the role within the company that manages the domain portfolio, not a private person such as the CEO or an employee. Using personal details causes problems if the person leaves the company. For corporate domains, a registrar specializing in the management of corporate domains (including the requisite support, security and strategic knowledge) should be chosen to manage the portfolio.
Domain names should be blocked if possible (PDF) to prevent the name from being transferred to another registrant or registrar. Access data to the domain management account should be kept safe and only be passed on to third parties in a limited way, as these can be used to unlock and transfer a domain. For important domains, the longest possible registration period should be chosen, which saves manual effort for renewal. At best, the option "renew automatically" should be selected, so the domain cannot expire. Please make sure that the payment data stored in your account is up-to-date. Ideally, a distribution e-mail address is set up as a contact e-mail address. This way, several people will receive notifications if there are any actions required for individual domains. This email address should not contain the domain name in question, as the email address may not be accessible in case of problems.
The most obvious way is that the account at the registrar is hacked and the domain is transferred to another registrar. This can happen in a very short space of time.
The registrar themselves can be hacked so that your domain is one of many stolen domains. An accredited registrar should inform you about his security measures and advise you on how to register and block your domains – it is best practice to ask make sure you registrar has sufficient security measures in place rather than waiting for the worst to happen.
Another possibility is reverse domain hijacking. This is an attempt to appropriate the domain by accusing the rightful owner of domain grabbing, i.e. claiming that there is a registered trademark that gives you the domain. The ensuing legal dispute can be quite lengthy and therefore often ends out of court with a settlement.
