Imagine hackers suddenly seizing control of your website and redirecting customers to a malicious site, harming your company’s reputation and exposing your business to other hazards.
Your domain name is more than just an online address—it’s a cornerstone of your brand’s identity, marketing efforts, and customer trust. A registry lock is one way to shield your domain name system (DNS) from exposure.
What is DNS?
DNS acts as the internet’s address book, converting human-friendly domain names like cscdbs.com into numerical internet protocol (IP) addresses that computers use to identify each other. Since IP addresses are long strings of numbers, DNS makes web browsing easier by allowing us to use memorable names instead.
Maintaining the integrity of your DNS is vital, as any unapproved modifications can misdirect web traffic, intercept emails, or cause website downtime.
What is a registry lock?
A registry lock is a security measure that provides an extra line of defense to your domain name at the registry level (the organization that manages top-level domains such as .com or .org). When implemented, it prevents unauthorized changes to critical domain settings, such as DNS records, contact information, or domain status.
How do registry locks work?
Without a registry lock, domains rely on the security of your registrar account for updates or moves. Even with strong defensive measures in place, if credentials are ever compromised—through phishing, social engineering, or other cyber attacks—your domain settings could be at risk.
With registry lock, any changes to critical domain settings—such as DNS records, contact details, or transfer status—require extra verification steps between the registrar and the registry. This typically involves manual authentication to ensure only designated personnel can approve changes.
Registry locks are most effective as part of a layered cyber resilience strategy. For example, DNS security extensions (DNSSEC) ensures DNS data hasn’t been tampered with during transmission, but it doesn’t prevent changes at the account level. Registry locks complement DNSSEC by safeguarding domain settings against unauthorized modifications, providing a more comprehensive defense.
Why registry locks are important
Many organizations believe that strong registrar account credentials are enough for protecting their domains. However, if attackers manage to compromise login details or exploit weaknesses at the registrar level, they can tamper settings. Registry locks create additional security by mandating confirmation at the registry level, making it far harder for attackers to succeed.
Registry lock mitigates DNS threats, such as:
- DNS hijacking, when attackers redirect your website or emails by altering DNS records, which can lead to other dangers like phishing or data breaches
- Unauthorized transfers, including domain slamming, where deceptive tactics trick you into migrating your domain to another registrar without permission
- Domain deletion or suspension, whether done accidentally or maliciously, can lead to website downtime
The potential business impacts of these incidents include lost revenue, data breaches, legal liability, and harm to your company’s reputation.
Current use of registry lock
Despite the clear benefits, adoption of registry locks remains limited. According to CSC’s 2024 “Domain Security Report,” only 24% of companies on the Forbes Global 2000 list have implemented registry locks for their domains.
Shield your DNS with registry lock
For businesses, especially those with valuable brand identities, implementing a registry lock is a straightforward but powerful way to guard against bad actors. CSC offers MultiLock, our own comprehensive registry lock designed to provide protection for your domains. You can prevent illegitimate deletions, transfers, and updates, ensuring the integrity and availability of your online services.
Discover how CSC MultiLock can fortify your domain integrity and minimize cyber threats.
