Your domain name is the foundation of your organization's online identity. It underlies your website, your email addresses and often the sign-in for other services. Yet in many organizations, nobody can say with confidence who registered it, where it is managed or when it expires. It was set up years ago by a former employee, a web designer or a vendor who has since moved on.
That uncertainty is risky. A lapsed domain can take down email and the website overnight. A compromised registrar account can let someone redirect your traffic. Fortunately, the checks are short and require no technical background.
Email depends on DNS. Your mail delivery relies on records that tell the world where to send messages. A mistake or hijack can stop email or redirect it.
Websites and portals depend on it. Patient, family and employee-facing sites disappear if the domain expires.
Security depends on it. An attacker who controls your DNS can impersonate your organization.
Recovery is slow without records. Proving ownership to a registrar after a dispute can take days.
Look up your domain with a public registration lookup tool. Note the registrant organization, the registrar, the expiration date and the contact details, though many are hidden by privacy services. Questions to answer:
Is the registrant your organization, or an individual or vendor?
Which company is the registrar?
When does it expire?
If a former employee or an outside web firm is listed as the owner, arrange to transfer ownership into your organization's name.
Find out which email address and which people have access to the registrar account.
The account should be tied to a role-based address your organization controls, such as a shared administrative mailbox, not a personal email address or a former employee's mailbox.
Turn on multi-factor authentication.
Record the login in your password manager, with at least two authorized people able to retrieve it.
Review recovery options, such as phone numbers and backup emails, to be sure they are current.
Note every domain you own, including older or secondary ones that redirect to your main site.
Turn on automatic renewal, and make sure the payment card on file will not expire first.
Set calendar reminders sixty and thirty days before expiration, assigned to two people.
Consider renewing for multiple years, which also reduces the chance of an accidental lapse.
Enable the registrar's transfer lock, which prevents unauthorized transfers.
Ask whether the registrar offers additional account protections for high-value domains.
Make sure the contact email on the domain is monitored, since renewal and transfer notices go there.
DNS may be hosted at the registrar, at a web host, at an email provider or at a separate service. Identify where your DNS records are managed, and who can change them.
Export or document your current DNS records and keep a copy.
Confirm that only authorized people have access, and that former staff and vendors have been removed.
Review the records for entries that nobody recognizes, which can point to forgotten services or older compromises.
Check email authentication records, such as SPF, DKIM and DMARC, with your IT provider, since they help protect against spoofed email.
Create a simple record with each domain, the registrar, the owner, the DNS host, the expiration date, the account holder and what each is used for. Store it with your other critical documentation, and update it when anything changes.
When an employee or vendor who had access leaves, include registrar and DNS accounts in your offboarding checklist.
UnityCare IT can help locate domains your organization owns, move ownership into the right hands, tighten registrar accounts and review your DNS and email authentication. Whether you do the checks yourself or with a partner, doing them before a problem is much easier than after.
An outsourced IT department with proactive maintenance and one number to call.
Call or text: 405-285-3845
New customers: start@unitycareit.com
Existing customers: support@unitycareit.com
Address: UnityCare Technologies, 2524 N Broadway Ste 554, PMB 947974, Edmond, Oklahoma 73034-4172