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October 2004 Special Mailing -

"I Phoned The Hijacker!"

Windows Update XP Newsletter

Subscriber List: 24,818

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http://www.updatexp.com 

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My Domain is back in my control again!

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Now this is a *LONG* email so imagine sitting down in a comfortable chair before reading...

...YOU may even want to print it out.

AND watch out for my 5 security tips at the end!

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GREAT NEWS....

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What could have been a real *nasty* mess has virtually ended.

I say virtually ended because there are still some things that require actioning "behind the scenes."

And so to the question YOU may have been asking.

"....Marc, WHAT exactly happened?"

Also, I will let you know some details of my phone conversation with the guy who took my domain away
from me....

YES - I really did phone him.

BUT...

BEFORE I do that I would like to acknowledge the help and guidance of some folk who went out of their way to help me.

...and for that I am truly grateful!

My thanks FIRST of all goes to YOU - my subscriber.

Thank you for all your personal messages of support and emails of complaint to GoDaddy.com

Whilst you may have received a typical "cut and paste" reply from their support department....

I got to see the *BIGGER* picture.

Collectively, ALL those emails sent to GoDaddy.com DID
make a difference!

So thanks again for your efforts.

It just goes to show what the "online" community can do when it takes action ;-)


A Big thanks to my Website Host

http://www.sitesell.com/pdf.html

Ken Evoy and his team have been fantastic in supporting
me over the last few days...

Now it is *NOT* very often the president of a multi-million dollar company picks up the phone and gives you a call to offer his guidance!!!

But that is just *typical* of this very unusual company. (GoDaddy.com could learn a thing or too from them!)

They are the ONLY host I know of that actually publishes a list of just how *successful* the websites they host really are:

http://results.sitesell.com/pdf.html

and not just that....

...they are also willing to prove *WHY* what they do works:

http://proof.sitesell.com/pdf.html

Heck they even give much of this knowledge away in FREE e-Books that anyone can download:

http://freetrial.sitesell.com/pdf.html

OK. OK. I shall stop the mini-advert now, but I am so touched by their help that I don't mind giving them a little free publicity!

    Also I would like to publicly thank:

Paul over at the registrar tucows.com for convincing GoDaddy.com to unlock the domain and get it transferred back to them now it was officially mine again.

And Trevor over at optimalpayments.com for his "behind the scenes" technical knowledge and persistence even though he has a very busy job...

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So What Happened...

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Well, now we have most of the fact's it seems that this act is actually quite a simple thing for *ANYONE* to DO!

And, that is the scary part!

You see when you register a domain name like UpdateXP.com you have to give some details to the registrar.

One of these details is the email address you give so that the registrar can contact you about things like "domain name transfers".

My mistake..?

I let the email address I used "expire"..

When I first registered the domain UpdateXP.com In January 2003 I used the email address:

mrpdf@mr-pdf.com

BUT on the 26th July 2004 I did NOT renew the domain name mr-pdf.com ...so it "expired".

I did not need the domain anymore and had *forgotten* that I had used it to register UpdateXP.com

...and that was my problem!

(Now I know this was a *dumb* thing to do with hindsight... but I am not unique in this... more on that in a moment.)

So...

This young Russian *found* MY error from publicly accessible information and then bought the domain name mr-pdf.com

He then used this to ask GoDaddy to transfer my domain UpdateXP.com from my registrar to them.

And they DID!

Yep, all it took was an email from GoDaddy to the email address:

mrpdf@mr-pdf.com

To confirm that this request was valid.

Now since this guy now owned this email address he was able to reply - yes it was OK.

And so the process started...

For the full details on how this process works you can read this document:

The Insider’s Guide to Domain Transfers

https://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/pdf/TransferInsider.pdf

Now there are a few more details that I can't reveal yet as we are still investigating them...

Well this seems to be a *grey* legal area...

The resolution GoDaddy.com insisted I follow was:

"If you are unable to come to a satisfactory agreement with the current registrant, you may wish to go through a court or arbitration forum (such as WIPO, The World Intellectual Property Organization)."

So it seems that something immoral like this can take place and GoDaddy.com simply washes its hands and let's the victim do ALL the work...

Way to go GoDaddy.com

Do you think for one moment that if I had been IBM.com or Microsoft.com and this had happened that GoDaddy.com would have been so complacent?

I don't think so at all...

They also finished their email with:

"Please let us know if we can help you in any other way."

Yes how about putting a *FREEZE* on the domain so the guy can NOT transfer all traffic so another website?

Nope..... GoDaddy.com was now protecting their new customer UNTIL I could PROVE otherwise!

AND at my expense....

Yikes....

Well now I have the domain name back and that is GREAT news. I am also hoping that my misfortune will help others!

So I phoned the young Russian to find out why he had done this to me...

Phoned him?

Yep, now I know you *MAY* think I am mad at this point. I may be, buy I DID want some answers and this was the ONLY way I was going to get them!

So what did I find out on this 50 min call?

Well,

He is a 20 year old young Russian living in the US.

Three weeks ago he started *searching* for domain names that had *expired* contact email addresses, just like mine had.

He then bought the expired domain and transferred the vulnerable domain to his control...

Now it looks like he has only done this around 30 times UNTIL he realized that he was in "way over his head".

He claims that the companies he has done this too should be *GLAD* !!!

(Well I am GLAD that he was not an extortionist after a ransom for my site... after all with over 1/2 million monthly visits MY domain would
be worth a small sum.)

But what he has found is that MOST of the folk he has done this too have actually been *VERY* angry. (Not really rocket science to understand
why!)

Why could he not just email or pick up the phone?

In fact he is now so "alarmed" at everyone's response that he is terrified to tell the largest catch of all, a $60 million company, that he HAS their domain....

So I did something *unusual*.

I have offered to act as a go between if he wants!

Now I *KNOW* you think I have really have "lost the Plot" at this point.

But I really *DO* want to see this sorry affair finished as soon as possible.

What this young man has done *IS* wrong, has caused me a lot of stress for a few days and cost me money!

BUT....

I do *NOT* want to see others go though this experience. So the quicker we can sort things out the better for everyone.

(Now as I said earlier I can not reveal *ALL* the facts at this stage but next week I shall be putting an article on my website.)

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My Recommendations...

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So my recommendation is that if you DO own a domain name then make sure your email listed under the ADMIN contact is the SAME as the domain you own!

As an experiment I looked up the details of 100 websites I visit on a regular basis. I found that a THIRD had a different email address listed than the domain they owned....

...just the same as me!

In addition if your domain registrar offers a "transfer lock" then select this option too.

This will lock *your* domain record at the registry level and prevent it from being transferred, modified or deleted by a third party...

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Can YOU let others *KNOW*?

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Got a friend who *WOULD* find this story interesting? Then hit that FORWARD button now!

Perhaps you have a local paper that could highlight this issue that many of your local businesses may *NOT* be aware of?

Or even a local Rotary group etc...

If my site and so many others can be hit like this oversight, then word needs to get out!

...and after all *YOU* proved you can do that by the several thousand emails that went "back and forth" to Godaddy.com!

And so now onto another topic you have been emailing me on.. PHISHING!

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A Question of Security...

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It seems that "Phishing" attacks is a concern to many readers like you.

Typically I am receiving emails with questions like:

"I am getting emails that claim to be from my bank, Ebay, PayPal etc... and they ask me to update or change my personal details! - What should I do?"

Sadly this is VERY common and many folk get caught out..

In fact millions of dollars are conned out of folk just like you each year...

Make sure YOU are NOT going to be one of them!

I do encourage YOU to read this excellent website to become familiar with the tactics used and HOW TO protect yourself.

http://www.antiphishing.org/index.html

In addition MY 5 quick security tips would be:

### ONE...

Make sure your AntiVirus software is up to date!

If you have NONE installed then get some FREE software
here:

http://www.updatexp.com/free.html

### TWO...

Make sure you have a firewall installed and running...

Either use the free firewall in Windows XP Service Pack 2 or get one of the FREE versions at:

http://www.updatexp.com/free.html

NB - If you are looking to get the market leader then
take a look at Zone Alarm Security Suite:

http://www.updatexp.com/zonealarm-securitysuite

They even have a limited time offer of $10 off the sale price.

### THREE...

One of the common ways you can be fooled into giving Your sensitive details away, is by a trick called "key logging"

Basically thieves can place some *software* on your PC via a virus or website and many times it CAN NOT be detected by your up to date antivirus software!

That's why I recommend you download this FREE Trial version of "Spy Sweeper" and when you do remember to accept the update option you are given when the program runs.

This means you will have the latest list of possible *nasties* that could be lurking on your PC.

http://www.1updatexp.com/sstrial.exe

NB - yes that should read "1updatexp.com" it is a second server I am using and is perfectly *safe*.

### FOUR...

Make sure you are using the latest version of your Web browser and email software AND remember it is NOT just Internet Explorer and Outlook Express that need to be "patched" or "updated". Other vendors software can be targeted too. (Even LINUX!)

Microsoft Security home page:

http://www.microsoft.com/security/

### FIVE...

Be AWARE of EVERY process running on your PC and what it is!

WinTasks Pro 5 is a valuable tool that I use on a regular basis. So much more powerful than the "Task Manager" that comes with Windows.

NB - This software is *NOT* available as a FREE trial via the company website... It is something I have asked them to make available as a download for you, my loyal subscriber!

http://www.updatexp.com/wintaskspro5-trial

This will download a small piece of software that will manage the download process. This "may" trigger a firewall warning, if it does this is Ok to accept it.

Then the download manager will go and grab the software required from the server.

As soon as you open WinTasks Pro 5 for the first time make sure you click the button on the main toolbar called "Check for updates" and then select "Update Process Library".

This will mean you have the most up to date information to hand.

As part of the download you get a manual and the section that explains how you can use the built-in script language is fabulous!

There is no real reason for you to NOT try out this *FREE* trial...

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Something completely different!

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After all this talk of security you may need to just have some lighter diversion....

I was reading an article today in which Lucie Naylor – Senior Product Manager Toys & Kids @ Amazon.co.uk was talking about letters from Santa!

So I checked out the reference she gave and now am Arranging some for my nephews and nieces.... one or two may even get a personal call from him too!

More at:

http://www.updatexp.com/letterfromsanta

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Until next time!

Don't forget to tell your friends about us!

Kind Regards

Marc Liron
Microsoft MVP - Digital Media

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