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According to the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), businesses who have abandoned their domain names are at risk of having cybercriminals snatch them for their own personal gain. A domain name is essential to businesses operating online and using email services, so losing a domain name can also mean the loss of your business’s website and email.

Aftershock of an abandoned domain name

Should your business fail to maintain a domain name, cybercriminals can benefit in obtaining the following:

  • Confidential documents of former clients;
  • Confidential documents of a former practice;
  • Private email correspondence;
  • Personal information of former clients.

And that’s not all. They will also be able to take further possible actions such as:

  • Impersonate legal practitioners to defraud former clients and fellow practitioners;
  • Regain access to the Office 365 and G Suite accounts, potentially gaining access to any email and documents not deleted on the platforms;
  • Hijack personal user accounts, such as LinkedIn and Facebook.

The ripple effect of these actions can cause serious damage to a business’s brand, and possible heavy financial losses. Which is why proper actions should be taken.

Mitigating the risk of abandoned domain names

The ACSC has provided the following counter-measures which are:

  1. Renewing the domain name and using https://whois.auda.org.au to check your domain registration
  2. Using HTTPS and SSL certificates to secure your website and connections
  3. Updating your content management platforms, plugins and programs
  4. Apply Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and stronger passwords
  5. Close user accounts that were registered using the business email address
  6. Change or remove business emails from online user accounts
  7. Unsubscribe to notifications containing sensitive information
  8. Advise clients to update their address books

To learn more about how to manage and plan your business’s security frameworks and implement the latest in security policies, don’t hesitate to contact us at Agilient.

Author: Saeed Baayoun, Agilient Consultant

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