What is Domain Hijacking - how it is done ?
Domain Hijacking is a process by which Internet Domain Name is stolen from its legitimate owners. Domain hijacking is also known as domain theft. Before we can know how to proceed to hijack domain names, it is necessary to understand how the domain names operate and how they get associated with a particular web server (website).
The operation of a domain name is as follows
Any website say for example ethicalhacking1.com consists of two parts. The domain name (ethicalhacking1.com) and the web hosting server where the files of the website are actually hosted. In reality, the domain name and the web hosting server (web server) are two different parts and hence they must be integrated before a website can operate successfully. The integration of domain name with the web hosting server is done as follows.
1. After registering a new domain name, we get a control panel wherein we can have a full control of the domain.
2. From this domain control panel, we point our domain name to the web server where the website’s files are actually hosted.
For a clear understanding lets me take up a small example.
John registers a new domain “abc.com” from an X domain registration company. He also purchases a hosting plan from Y hosting company. He uploads all of his files (. Html, .PHP, Java scripts etc.) to his web server (at the Y). From the domain control panel (of X)
He configures his domain name “abc.com” to point to his web server (of Y). Now whenever an Internet user types “abc.com”, the domain name “abc.com” is resolved to the target web server and the web page is displayed. This is how a website actually works.
What happens when a domain is hijacked
Now let’s see what happens when a domain name is hijacked. To hijack a domain name you just need to get access to the domain control panel and point the domain name to some other web server other than the original one. So to hijack a domain you need not gain access to the target web server.
For example, a hacker gets access to the domain control panel of “abc.com”. From here the hacker re-configures the domain name to point it to some other web server (Z). Now whenever an Internet user tries to access “abc.com” he is taken to the hacker’s website (Z) and not to John’s original site (Y).
In this case the John’s domain name (abc.com) is said to be hijacked
How the domain names are hijacked
To hijack a domain name, it’s necessary to gain access to the domain control panel of the target domain. For this you need the following ingredients
1. The domain registrar name for the target domain.
2. The administrative email address associated with the target domain.
This information can be obtained by accessing the WHOIS data of the target domain. To get access the WHOIS data, go to whois.domaintools.com, enter the target domain name and click on Lookup. Once the Whois data are loaded, scroll down and you’ll see Whois Record. Under this you’ll get the “Administrative contact email address”.
To get the domain registrar name, look for something like this under the Whois Record. “Registration Service Provided By: XYZ Company”. Here XYZ Company is the domain registrar. In case if you don’t find this, then scroll up and you’ll see ICANN Registrar under the “Registry Data”. In this case, the ICANN registrar is the actual domain registrar.
The administrative email address associated with the domain is the backdoor to hijack the domain name. It is the key to unlock the domain control panel. So to take full control of the domain, the hacker will hack the administrative email associated with it. Email hacking has been discussed in my previous post how to hack any account.
Once the hacker takes full control of this email account, he will visit the domain registrar’s website and click on forgot password in the login page. There he will be asked to enter either the domain name or the administrative email address to initiate the password reset process. Once this is done all the details to reset the password will be sent to the administrative email address.
Since the hacker has the access to this email account he can easily reset the password of the domain control panel. After resetting the password, he logs into the control panel with the new password and from there he can hijack the domain within minutes.
How to protect the domain name from being hijacked
The best way to protect the domain name is to protect the administrative email account associated with the domain. If you lose this email account, you lose your domain. Another best way to protect your domain is to go for private domain registration. When you register a domain name using the private registration option, all your personal details such as your name, address, phone and administrative email address are hidden from the public.
So when a hacker performs a WHOIS lookup for your domain name, he will not be able to find your name, phone and administrative email address. So the private registration provides an extra security and protects your privacy. Private domain registration costs a bit extra amount but is really worth for its advantages. Every domain registrar provides an option to go for private registration, so when you purchase a new domain make sure that you select the private registration option.
This post is written by Sahil Baghla. He is a famous Cyber security expert from India and running his own company and website all over the world. Eh1-Infotech. http://www.ethicalhacking1.com
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