Editing Domain hijacking (section)

{{short description|Using identity theft or other tactics to gain ownership over a domain name}}
{{Distinguish|Domain hack}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{multiple issues|
{{More citations needed|date=March 2011}}
{{Original research|date=April 2011}}
}}

'''Domain hijacking''' or '''domain theft''' is the act of changing the registration of a [[domain name]] without the permission of its original registrant, or by abuse of privileges on domain hosting and registrar software systems. <ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-02-10|title=Preventing Risks From Subdomain Takeover - Cloud Exploits|url=http://thehackreport.com/preventing-risks-from-subdomain-takeover-cloud-exploits/|access-date=2021-04-14|website=The Hack Report|language=en-US}}</ref>

This can be devastating to the original domain name holder, not only financially as they may have derived commercial income from a website hosted at the domain or conducted business through that domain's e-mail accounts, <ref>{{cite news|last1=Simon|first1=Ruth|title=Cybercriminals Are Misappropriating Businesses' Web Addresses As a Result, Customers Can't Find the Real Companies on the Web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/now-cybercriminals-are-misappropriating-businesses-web-addresses-1426120840|website=The Wall Street Journal|date=12 March 2015 |publisher=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=12 September 2016}}</ref> but also in terms of readership and/or audience for non-profit or artistic web addresses. After a successful hijacking, the hijacker can use the domain name to facilitate other illegal activity such as [[phishing]], where a website is replaced by an identical website that records [[personal information|private information]] such as log-in [[password]]s, [[Email spam|spam]], or may distribute [[malware]] from the perceived "trusted" domain.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Weslow|first1=David|title=Dealing with cybersquatting: the wisdom of thinking ahead|url=http://www.trademarksandbrandsonline.com/article/dealing-with-cybersquatting-the-wisdom-of-thinking-ahead|website=TBO: Trademarks & Brands Online|access-date=12 September 2016|archive-date=31 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331231901/https://www.trademarksandbrandsonline.com/article/dealing-with-cybersquatting-the-wisdom-of-thinking-ahead|url-status=dead}}</ref>