GoDaddy Archives - Page 37 of 116

GoDaddy Employee “Fell Victim to a Spear-fishing or Social Engineering Attack”

-

March 31, 2020

Earlier today, I published an article about a reported “security incident” involving Escrow.com. In the statement outlining what happened, Escrow.com wrote, “hackers got access to our domain registry account for the Escrow.com domain through a breach of our domain registrar’s systems.” I emphasized the last part of the statement because it seems to lay the blame on the company’s domain registrar rather than the fault of an Escrow.com employee or agent.

A Whois search reveals that the Escrow.com domain name is registered at GoDaddy. I reached out to GoDaddy representatives to see if they could shed some light on this incident. A company representative sent me an email this evening, and it would appear that the issue impacted a handful of customers (who have all been notified). Here’s what I was told by GoDaddy:

GoDaddy: No Coronavirus Domain Names on Its Aftermarket

Elliot Silver

-

March 27, 2020

8

Yesterday afternoon, James Bladel, GoDaddy VP of Public Policy, published an article discussing what GoDaddy is doing to combat coronavirus-related fraud and abuse. The article comes in the wake of a letter that was sent to GoDaddy by the office of New York State’s Attorney General Letitia James concerning domain names being used for fraudulent schemes and scams. GoDaddy already publicly replied to the NYAG via Twitter.

Here’s what GoDaddy has been reportedly doing to combat fraud related to domain names registered or hosted at GoDaddy:

COVID19.com Forwarding to World Health Organization Website

Elliot Silver

-

March 23, 2020

2

Domain investors often get a bad rap during various emergencies and tragedies. Sometimes the criticism is warranted when speculation on tragedy-related domain names is distasteful to many. There are always going to be journalists who look at speculative domain registrations as a way to show examples of people attempting to profit from domain names. Even when domain speculation is not done by domain investors, these types of articles portray the business of domain investing in a poor light.

When it comes to the COVID 19 coronavirus outbreak, this is no different. There have been quite a few articles written about related domain names, with a particular focus on scams and schemes involving domain names that are associated with the ongoing, worldwide pandemic.

New York Attorney General Sends Letter to GoDaddy

GoDaddy

Elliot Silver

-

March 23, 2020

3

The Attorney General’s Office from the State of New York (NYAG) sent a letter to GoDaddy regarding coronavirus domain names being registered for various scams and schemes. The letter, sent on NY Attorney General Letitia James’ letterhead, was sent this past Friday. The letter is posted in a .pdf file on the NYAG’s website.

According to the letter, “The Office of the New York Attorney General (NYAG) is investigating the registration and use of coronavirus-related domains for the purposes of deceptive advertising, phishing schemes and malware dissemination.” Although the letter does not specifically mention that some of these domain names are registered at GoDaddy, I would imagine this is probably the case since GoDaddy is the largest domain registrar in the world.

The NYAG is requesting that GoDaddy contact the NYAG’s office “to discuss how GoDaddy is protecting New Yorkers and others across the country from these scams.” The NYAG suggested some actions it would like to discuss with GoDaddy:

#OpenWeStand: The Extensions GoDaddy Chose to Register

GoDaddy

Elliot Silver

-

March 21, 2020

1

GoDaddy launched a new campaign to offer resources to its business clients to help stay open during these uncertain, but certainly challenging times. The campaign is called “Open We Stand,” and it uses the #OpenWeStand social media hashtag:

We’re doing everything we can for small businesses during these tough times. Our COVID-19 resources can help you keep your business open, even if your doors are closed. #OpenWeStand https://t.co/p85x1xCkqh pic.twitter.com/rW5gX9OYHw

— GoDaddy (@GoDaddy) March 20, 2020

$25.5M Funded Company Closes and Domain Expires

Elliot Silver

-

March 9, 2020

3

Laurel & Wolf was a popular and growing interior design business that had raised over $25 million in funding, according to CrunchBase. A March of 2019 article in a trade publication called Business of Home detailed the failure of the business and how the company was shut down.

It’s always interesting to track what happens to domain names owned by companies that are shut down. Oftentimes, the domain names are sold along with whatever valuable assets remain, such as a customer list, trademarks, and inventory. In the case of Laurel & Wolf’s domain name, LaurelAndWolf.com, it is up for auction today in a GoDaddy Auctions expiry auction.