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Free Internet ReportThis is one in a series of free reports on Internet Marketing. For a complete list of reports available , click here. Non-Profit Domain Names -- Is your .org Web site safe? How to avoid e-mail hijackingBy John Bagwell - President, Bagwell Internet Marketing Revised June 19, 2005 This report has been prepared for non-profit organizations that have a .org domain name -- such as www.firstbaptistchurch.org. It addresses some serious issues for security of e-mail as well as hijacking of Web site traffic. You may print this out and distribute it freely to others. You may wish to check this page often, as this report will be revised from time to time. You can use your same password to access this page again. If you are unsure of any terms used in this report, see the glossary at www.bagwellinternet.com and click on "Resources". There is also a companion report titled: Domain Name Primer : Everything You Need to Know About Domain Names. You can access that report by going back to the main report page. To register a domain name, go to http://www.claim-your-domain-name.com/ The problem... Many non-profit organizations have found that their e-mail and Web traffic is being "hijacked" either intentionally or unintentionally. They have found that e-mail intended for the nonprofit organization is being read -- and often responded to -- by someone outside of their offices. In some cases it can be embarrassing. At other times, the nonprofit organization doesn't even know that someone else is reading their mail. Other nonprofit organizations have found that people who were trying to find their Web site actually arrived at another Web site instead. Sometimes the competing site was quite innocent. Other times, it turned out to contain pornographic material, or it was a Web site set up by an activist or someone with an opposing viewpoint. How does this happen? Most nonprofit Web sites have a domain that uses the .org extension -- such as www.firstbaptistchurch.org. If someone has a Web site with the same name -- only with the more prominent .com extension such as www.firstbaptistchurch.com, traffic can be accidentally or intentionally diverted to the wrong site. The .org extension was originally established for nonprofit organizations, while .com was reserved for commercial sites and .net for Internet related businesses. Somewhere in the mid 1990's, as the Internet was growing, this line became blurred. Anyone began to be allowed to register a name under any or all of the three extensions (see the report, Domain Name Primer, for a more detailed discussion of domain names). The .com is still the "default," and most people automatically think of .com as the only Internet address. In fact, most browsers automatically think you want a .com if you don't enter something else. To see for yourself, open your browser and type: bagwell -- don't enter www. -- or .com. You will automatically go to www.bagwell.com. There is also a www.bagwell.org and a www.bagwell.net --which are registered to other people. But the browser picks up .com before .org or .net (Back in the mid 1990's, when I registered www.bagwell.com, I didn't know I could also register www.bagwell.net or www.bagwell.org ). This Internet default order of .com, .net and .org has caused some major problems for nonprofit organizations with a .org extension. The problem arises because most Internet users think of .com first. Thus, when someone sends an e-mail, instead of sending to julie@nonprofit.org, they enter Julie@nonprofit.com . The e-mail is either lost in cyberspace or winds up on someone else's computer. If you have a nonprofit organization, you should know if someone else has your domain with a .com extension. To check to see if someone owns the .com extension for your .org Web site, go to http://www.claim-your-domain-name.com/ . If it is available, you should register the name immediately! The Wall Street Journal highlighted the problems with e-mail hijacking. An article in the Wall Street Journal on November 11, 1999 titled: Inside the Game of E-Mail Hijacking -- Look Alike Web Addresses, Run by Foes or Pranksters, Can Snag Errant Missives, gives a chilling story. According to the article, a nonprofit trade group is faced with an embarrassing situation because their e-mail was received by a consumer activist who bought the same domain name that they had -- only with a .com extension instead of the .org extension. An employee of the nonprofit group resigned and the matter appears to be on the way to court. However, most legal experts say that this type of hijacking is probably perfectly legal. How can this happen? As mentioned above, most people think of .com when they think of the Internet. So when sending an e-mail to the nonprofit site, if someone mistakenly uses .com instead of .org in the e-mail address, the e-mail goes to the .com e-mail server instead of the nonprofit organization e-mail server. The Wall Street Journal article noted that even the staff at that nonprofit organization often mistakenly enters .com instead of .org when communicating with one another! The article also noted that an attorney working on legal issues raised by e-mail hijacking actually had his e-mail hijacked when he accidentally entered the wrong e-mail address. Instead of going to his client, it arrived on the computer of the person he was suing! The complete text of the Wall Street Journal article can be downloaded from http://www.wsj.com and is available at most public libraries. How e-mail hijacking works...It really is quite easy. An individual or organization purchases the domain name with a .com extension where there is a .org domain already registered (this can be done on purpose -- or unknowingly). For example, let's say ABCDX Corporation is a respectable business who just happens to have a business Web site, www.abcdx.com. And let's assume a nonprofit organization has the same domain name with a .org extension -- www.abcdx.org . As long as there are no two individuals with the same e-mail address, there is no problem. But if there is a Julie@abcdx.com and Julie@abcdx.org, Julie at the commercial Web site is likely to get at least some mail intended for Julie at the nonprofit Web site. The reason: again, many people are so used to using .com that they instinctively use it on everything! Since there are so many different possible e-mail addresses, this is usually only a problem if there are common names such as Bob or John used in e-mail. E-mail hijacking becomes a snap when the .com site owner uses what is known as a dump account. A dump account takes all the e-mails that come in to the domain and funnels them into one e-mail mailbox. Interestingly enough, a culprit does not even have to set up an actual Web site in order to hijack e-mail. They just have to own the domain name. How Web site traffic hijacking works...Similar to e-mail hijacking, Web site hijackers rely on the fact that many people will enter .com instead of .org in their browsers when they are looking for a Web site. When someone does this, the .com Web site appears, or the owner of the .com Web site could have the page "point" to another Web site. Some people, as outlined above, simply enter the name without a www or .com in their browser. The potential for misuse is mind boggling. For example, a devious individual could reserve firstbaptistofanytown.com --- where firstbaptistofanytown.org was already registered to a church. When someone accidentally entered firstbaptistofanytown.com, they could arrive at a pornographic Web site. There isn't a thing the .org Web site can do about it!! A credit union that uses .org could see traffic on the .com for their domain routed to a bank or finance company. And of course, political candidates could see their traffic going to a parody page, or their opponent's Web site. Nonprofit organizations can register a .com address. Many individuals do not realize that a nonprofit organization can register a .com domain name. Once registered, the domain name can remain "dormant," preventing someone else from securing the name and hijacking the site. The best use, however, is to have the .com domain point directly to the .org Web site. That means that when someone mistakenly enters .com instead of .org, they are taken directly to the .org Web page. Most Internet service providers will charge a flat fee for this service. To check the availability of a domain name, go to http://www.claim-your-domain-name.com/. If you have a domain name with a .org extension and the .com version is available, you should register it immediately. There are other ways of hijacking a .org Web site.There is another little known way that a resourceful individual can hijack a non-commercial Web site. It involves the use of the dash (-) in the Internet domain name. The Internet, for the most part, is not case sensitive. Enter FirstBaptistChurch.org, firstbaptistchurch.org, or FIRSTBAPTISTCHURCH.ORG in your browser and you will arrive at the same Web site. It's all one domain name and you pay only one registration fee. Most Internet users do not use capitals, but often in advertising, a capitalization is used for two or more word domains to make it easier on the user to enter the name --- such as FirstBaptistChurch.org. However, punctuation poses a different problem. The only punctuation mark allowed is the dash. However, when a dash is used, it creates a whole new domain. For example, first-baptist-church.org is a different domain than firstbaptistchurch.org. This means that if you have a multiple word domain name, you should consider registering it with a dash and without a dash. There is a key advantage to using the dash. Search engines recognize the dash as a separator of words. A search engine is more likely to find first-baptist-church and recognize it as three words than it would be to find and recognize firstbaptistchurch as three words. While most Internet users avoid dashes, there still is the opportunity for abuse. Our recommendation is that you register domain addresses that contain two or more words with both a hyphen and without. Nonprofit groups should register them with a .org and .com extension for maximum security. Registration is simple and the cost is minimal. With deregulation of the Internet naming process, there are a number of companies that register domain names. You can now register your domain name for $19.95 a year at http://www.claim-your-domain-name.com/. You can also transfer your domain name and pay only $19.95 a year/per domain or $35 for one year. You really should protect the security of your Web site. What to do if someone already has the .com extension of your .org address...In many cases it can be easy to coexist. If the company with the .com address is sympathetic to your situation, they may work with you. Keep in mind that domain names are property and can be sold. So, there is no guarantee that the person who owns that .com address today will not sell it to your rival or a pornographic site tomorrow. The Wall Street Journal article to which I refered earlier in this report did indicate that some groups were at least reasonably successful with legal action (see "Disclaimer and other legal stuff" below). You may want to look for a better name -- and reserve the .com and .org version at the same time. You could forward your old address to your new address. See the report Domain Name Primer for more information. There is also a list of resources that you might find helpful on our Web site at http://www.bagwellinternet.com. Other marketing resources... Bagwell Internet Marketing is a part of the Bagwell Marketing Companies. For general resources and assistance on advertising, public relations and marketing --- including television, radio, newspaper, public relations, market research and traditional marketing solutions, visit the Web site of Bagwell Marketing at http://www.bagwell.com . For advertising specialty items, such as key chains, coffee cups, calendars and other items imprinted with your company logo, please log on to Bagwell Promotions at http://www.bagwellpromotions.com. Disclaimers and other legal stuff... The Web sites listed in this document are included purely for educational purposes. Neither John Bagwell personally nor any staff members of Bagwell Internet Marketing Agency purport to be attorneys or to offer legal advice in this report. For specific questions to legal issues, you will want to consult with your own attorney. The Bagwell Agency does maintain a list of copyright, trademark and Internet attorneys that we have used for our company and our clients. Names will be provided upon request. For more information contact us. For more ideas and resources on Internet Marketing visit our resources page. | |
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