Introduction to the risks of domain management
Effective domain name management is essential for minimizing corporate risk, including downtime, unauthorized access, and potential financial loss and embarrassment. This process requires collaboration among risk managers, IT managers, marketing managers, legal counsel, and system administrators to implement practices that mitigate risk through internal controls, advanced technologies, and partnerships with corporate domain name management providers. This blog explores common risks in domain name management and highlights strategies to prevent them.
No Clear Functional Home
For many organisations, domain name management is fragmented across multiple departments and individuals. This fragmentation frequently results in a lack of accountability and finger-pointing when issues arise. The absence of centralised control over domain names typically correlates with a lack of policy governing domain name and invites risk into a business' operation.
Domain Name Management needs a home Define the team, role and responsibilities and ensure appropriate controls are in place for business continuity and succession planning
Policy Develop a centralised policy that defines how to manage domain names and DNS
Managed Service Leverage a corporate domain name management service to conduct the heavy lifting.
Experience & Capacity
In some companies, the responsibility for managing domain names falls to a single individual who also handles numerous other duties. This person must ensure that business-critical domain names do not expire or fall victim to typo DNS errors or attacks. Often, this resource is overextended and can only focus on domain names when absolutely necessary. In other instances, domain name management is assigned to a relatively inexperienced resource, such as an intern, who may not fully understand the mechanics of domain names, the associated threats, or the correct management processes.
Multiple Domain Providers
Using multiple domain name registrars greatly increases the risk of complications. You must deal with multiple organizations, pay numerous invoices, and keep track of tickets for each registrar. Budget registrars often place you in a queue with thousands of other customers, failing to prioritize urgent issues. When problems arise, your requests for assistance may be ignored, leaving you without answers. Furthermore, different registrars have varying security standards, such as two-factor authentication, single sign-on, IP restrictions, and hierarchical approval processes, altering the risk profile of your domain name management function.
Risks of partner-registered domain names
A common reason domain names expire is that they were registered by partners and not consolidated. Often, brands form partnerships with marketing agencies that register domains during the concept phase. When the contract or relationship ends, these domain names are not transferred and subsequently expire. This lack of consolidation can result in missed renewals, loss of control over domain settings and security standards, and increased risk. These issues can be mitigated by implementing clear domain name management policies, ensuring all domain names are consolidated into one account, and conducting periodic audits to transfer any outliers.
Missed Invoice or Renewal Notice
Another common reason domain names expire is the reliance on retail domain name registrars, where each domain must be paid for individually with a credit card or by invoice. This process is fraught with risks due to its laborious nature. First, the domain name manager must have complete oversight of all domain names. Second, they must implement airtight processes to ensure timely renewals. This also assumes the manager remains in their role long-term. Achieving sustained perfection in this process is unrealistic, which is why most corporations use a domain management service to ensure their valuable domain name assets are renewed on time.
About brandsec
brandsec is a team of highly experienced domain name management and online brand protection experts. We provide corporate domain name management and brand enforcement services, helping brands eliminate phishing platforms across the internet. Supporting some of the largest brands in the region, we offer innovative solutions to combat threats across multiple industries.
