How can you tell if your website was hijacked, or if your domain name expired. The first step is to find out who is on record as the owner. There are a few websites that provide this information. Many people use Whois.net, but my favorite is a site called, DomainTools. Domain tools also pulls their information from Whois.net, but they also offer some additional information on a domain.
To use domaintools.com, type in the domain name and hit search. Toward the bottom is the whois information. If you see your name as the registrant, and your website is showing something you have not approved, contact your webmaster or host. If you were tricked into transferring your domain name, call your host; you might also have cause of getting the name back. However, if you let your domain name expire and someone else is now the owner, you have fewer options as nothing illegal has happened.
In the case of an expired domain name there are different options that depend on how long the domain name has been expired. One option to regain ownership is if the domain is in redemption. A domain will enter a redemption period 30 days after a domain expired. Getting a domain out of redemption can be done by contacting the holder on record. However, the purchase price will be at a premium, usually around $150, or maybe even higher.
However, not all domains go to redemption. If you find that your domain was on “backorder”, you will not have the extra 30 days of redemption. Backorder will take priority over redemption and takes effect immediately after your domain expires.
A domain might also go to auction. In this case, the registrar has up to 45 days to ask VeriSign to delete its record.
This short “grace period” varies according to the registrar. For example, Go Daddy has a 12 period while Network Solutions offers a 35 day period. However, no registrar is required to give a grace period; it is just a courtesy.
Auction is a practice by domain registrars of trying to auction an expired domain name before deleting it within a 45 day period. If the expired domain name is not renewed within the registrar’s grace period, the registrar will try to sell it and transfer its ownership to whoever made a “bid”. In the case of an auction the domain will be awarded to the highest bidder. If no one is interest in the domain it will go back to the open market.
Losing a domain name to a hijacker implies an illegal situation. On the other hand, it is not illegal for another person or company to purchase the name in an auction or in redemption do to an owner letting the domain expire.
