A friend of mine forwarded me an email he received from GoDaddy informing him that McAfee “blacklisted” one of his domain names. The subject of the email was, “McAfee has blacklisted [domain name redacted]” and the email had GoDaddy’s logo and branding. In the heading of the email, the message was clear in bolded font: “Security warning: McAfee blacklisted your domain. It’s important you resolve this issue as soon as possible. Contact our security team if you need any help.”

The messaging provided a bit more information, although the owner of the domain name was encouraged to call GoDaddy to rectify:

During a routine security audit of our network, we found that [redacted domain name] (hosted via ns2. redacted .com,ns1. redacted .com) was blacklisted by McAfee. This audit was performed by the GoDaddy Security Unit to ensure the integrity and trust of the network.
You can find details of why your domain was blacklisted here: https://www.mcafee.com/threat-intelligence/site/default.aspx?url=[redacted]
What this means for you.
A McAfee blacklisting means visitors with McAfee antivirus or who use Opera for browsing can’t see your website. It also means your site may be inaccessible to other networks too.

McAfee flagged your website because it has identified it as a potential threat based on its own web reputation ranking system. It’s ranking system is proprietary and crawls websites looking for indicators of malware and spam.

I could tell the email was legitimately from GoDaddy because it had my friend’s name and account number at the top. However, I reached out to GoDaddy to confirm its authenticity and see if the company could share additional details about the email warning. Here’s what I was told by Tony Perez, Head of Security Business at GoDaddy:

I was looking through my daily Registrant Alert email from DomainTools, when I noticed what appeared to be another domain name portfolio acquisition by GoDaddy. A very large number of domain names that were privately registered at Uniregistry changed hands and are now registered to NameFind, the portfolio holding company owned and operated by GoDaddy.

I reached out to GoDaddy’s Paul Nicks, and he confirmed an acquisition. “Can confirm another portfolio purchase, but we wont be disclosing price or seller information,” he told me in an email this morning.

Some subsequent research using DomainTools Whois history tool shed some additional light on the acquisition

We all know that Symbolics.com was the first domain name ever registered. That domain name was registered on March 15, 1985. That domain name is currently owned by Aron Meystedt of Napkin.com (and Heritage Auctions).

Here’s a bit of domain industry trivia for you: What was the first domain name ever sold by GoDaddy? The domain name is still registered, and the owner of the domain name still has it registered at GoDaddy.

The first person to answer the question correctly gets a virtual high 5 from me.

The Equifax security breach has an estimated 143 million Americans facing the serious threat of identify theft and has triggered a rush for consumers and business owners alike to protect themselves and their livelihoods.

When major hacks occur, individual account information can end up in the hands of bad actors who may attempt to use that information to access bank and credit card accounts, as well as other investments, including domain names. As a domain name investor who’s been building up a portfolio over time, how can you make sure your digital investments remain secure and avoid any potentially unverified domain name transfers due to the breach?

First, you’ll need to secure your identity by setting up a credit monitoring service, and even freezing credit temporarily, to prevent bad actors from taking over your identity with leaked or hacked sensitive information. If you are researching a security breach, be careful what sites you click on as many phishing pages have popped up to attempt to collect information from people trying to find out if their personal data was leaked. The official website for information on the Equifax breach is equifaxsecurity2017.com.

If you find out someone has stolen your identity, contact our customer team immediately. Let them know to not authorize any account changes over the phone during this time.

Next, you’ll want to take the proper precautions for your online accounts. Setting up two-factor authentication for your registrar and registry accounts is an easy way to safeguard your accounts from potential hacking. Texting or phone calls are the best forms for your second-factor of authentication because hackers are unlikely to have access to your cell phone, unlike information that could be leaked like your driver’s license number or the name of your hometown. GoDaddy does not use birth dates, Social Security Numbers or security questions for its two-factor authentication process as part of its policy to protect customers. Additionally, it’s a good idea to keep all your account information, specifically your email address and phone number, up to date across registrars and registries. Be sure to turn off any filters that send emails from GoDaddy or other registrars to the junk folder to ensure you receive notifications of any unauthorized account changes or transfer requests.

A general best practice for domain investors is to