This is very scary. The domain name of popular blog MakeUseOf was hacked today and is now redirecting to an ad-filled page. The hackers have transferred the domain from GoDaddy to some Dubai based web hosting company.
The MakeUseOf team are following up with GoDaddy to regain control and have temporarily created a status blog to keep their readers informed of the status.
We have absolutely no idea how this was achieved but we are currently in full contact with GoDaddy’s fraud department to get our legal property back.
Wishing them good luck and hope things fall on track real soon.
Update: Daniel Scocco rightly classifies this act as "domain theft". He says - "My guess is that the following happened: the cracker somehow discovered his Gmail password or got access to some other webmail that Aibek uses. He then started a domain transfer request, and was able to authorize it with the hacked domain account."
Update: The team has successfully managed to regain ownership of the MakeUseOf.com domain after proving their case with GoDaddy and eNom. Congrats.
Find this article at: http://www.labnol.org/internet/blogging/popular-blog-makeuseof-hacked/5191/
web: http://www.labnol.org/ email: amit@labnol.org
Reader Comments
This is very unfortunate.. I’m a vivid reader of makeuseof and been following it for more than an year.. Good luck Aibek..
Written by Nitin on 11.03.08
Indeed shocking.
Be cautious and prepared always !!
Remember, the same thing happened to David Risley over at DavidRisley[dot]com
Written by Aravind Jose T. on 11.03.08
Update to above comment
I meant David Airey and not David Risley.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
His domain : DavidAirey[dot]com
Written by Aravind Jose T. on 11.03.08
It’s incredible that even a blog like MakeUseOf could be that easily hacked. Good luck to them.
Written by Cool Products on 11.03.08
best of luck for them,may they get there thing back.must be going hard on them :/
Written by Minty on 11.03.08
Also just wrote an article in their support.
link
Written by Minty on 11.03.08
Hey Amit
Thanks for covering this on your blog, we really appreciate it.
We’re now waiting for the response from ENOM (NameCheap is the reseller for ENOM). Once they clear it, the domain will be hopefully returned to where it belongs. Will keep you updated.
Again, thanks for posting about it.
Aibek
Written by Aibek on 11.03.08
This seems almost impossible that this could happen. MakeUseOf will get their site back, but it will take a lot longer than they think, I’ll bet on it.
Seems to me that GoDaddy is possibly the total blame here. I say boycott the buggers and let them know why!
I would have my lawyer on speed dial if I were MakeUseOf.
Read my post on this subject, “I Can Steal Your Website.”
link
Written by Rich Hill on 11.03.08
This is exactly what happened to David Airey. Luckily, both of them got domains back.
Written by Sumesh on 11.03.08