ICANN warns world of domain hijacking

July 2005

A report by the internet's leading security experts has warned the world of the risk of domain name hijacking and told the industry to pull its socks up.

ICANN's Security and Stability Advisory Committee has outlined several famous and recent thefts of websites, including Panix.com, Hushmail.com and HZ.com, and listed where the system went wrong and what can be done to correct the flaws.

It has made 10 findings and, in response, 10 recommendations for how the internet industry and consumers themselves can make sure that people don't steal their online property.

The problem is relatively small at the moment, head of the committee and ICANN Board member, Steve Crocker, told us but when it happened it was a "full-scale disaster". Panix.com, for example, vanished from the internet after a fraudulent request saw the website and its thousands of customers' emails redirected to an entirely different part of the internet.

Hushmail's website was cleverly stolen in steps, first a phonecall, then an email, then a wholesale shift of the domain. The company is still suffering the ill-effects of the hijacking, the company told the SSAC.