People place their bets for the royal domain

Unless you've been hiding away for the past 48 hours you've probably been bombarded with the news that The Duchess of Cambridge has given birth to her baby boy. So before we get on to the main topic we’d like to congratulate her on the wonderful news (If you’re reading this Kate, congratulations!!) and we can’t wait to see him grow up.

Anyway back to the blog! After scouting around the web this morning, here at Frank Domains we've found some fantastic news on domain names. According to reports from TheDomains people have been attempting to cash in on registering domains of the royal baby.

According to the bookies the most likely name of the royal baby are George, James, Alexander, Louis, and Henry but we wouldn't advise you to choose those, why? Because their already taken.

Since yesterday around 75 .com/.net domain names have been registered as people are trying to win a bet another way by guessing the matching domain name for the new prince so domain such as PrinceSpencer.com and even less than regal sounding names like PrinceRandy.com.

Other decided play off the Royal Baby’s official title by registering domains that could be a potential place that might be named after the royal baby like princeofcambridgehotel.com, princeofcambridgehospital.com and princeofcambridegetheatre.com.

But if you all wanted to grab a piece of the king of all domain names, www.royalbaby.com, you’ve already missed and which has not only been registered since 1998 but it is the URL for the site “The Royal Nursery”.

So with that being said, we want to hear your best royal baby domain names so tweet us @FrankDomains with the #RoyalDomains to showcase your best domain. Get those royal thinking caps on domainers!

Frank Domains Top 5: Worst domain names ever

As you can tell, here at Frank Domains we’re all about domains and URL’s. Over the last couple of days just for your entertainment only, we've decided to scout around the web looking to come up with our top 5 worst domain names ever. So sit back, enjoy and laugh at what your about to read.

  1.   Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at www.therapistfinder.com

  2.      The designers at Speed of Art await you at their wacky Web site, 
www.speedofart.com

  3.      The First Cumming Methodist Church Web site is www.cummingfirst.com

  4.      Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at www.penisland.net

  5.      There's the Italian Power Generator company, www.powergenitalia.com

GCHQ battles against cyber espionage

According to the Gloucestershire echo, spies at GCHQ face an uphill battle against cybercrime. Reports suggest that the Cheltenham based listening post faces up to 70 cyber-attacks a month from foreign hackers. 

Concerns first began when Director of GCHQ, Sir Iain Lobban made comments on the BBC regarding the subject, stating that the secrets were being exposed on an ‘industrial scale’ after being sanctioned by foreign powers. Sir Iain estimated that some firms had been penetrated for around two years, and denied any reports that the organisation had broken the law in receiving information from the prism spy program.

Problems seem to persist and in early February social media giants Twitter stated that as many as 250,000 users accounts, user names, email addresses and passwords may have been gained access to by hackers. The company said it took a week to discover the live attack, but then immediately shut it down, ensuring the safety of all its current users.

Despite all the efforts from GCHQ and the police, cybercrime is a very time consuming process and isn't easily be get under control. Cyber-attacks are seen as a consistent threat to both government and industrial companies. It’s thought to be far healthier to use high quality security software and to follow the careful safety steps online that can greatly reduce the likelihood of becoming one of the 7 in 10 global cybercrime victims last year.

Here at Frank Domains we are the first UK domain company to offer our customers with a preventative solution to cybercrime. Our new key fob system called “Domainsafe” offers an additional security when logging into our consumers domains.  It works in a similar fashion to online banking and uses the same security concept. All that is required is to just type in the one-time password when you log in. The key fob is just one of the preventable measures that companies can use to prevent acts of cybercrime on their company.

Despite the really frightening statistics on the scale of these attacks, cybercrime is still largely an avoidable crime. Most of these attacks are largely preventable by following good security practises and using updated security software. In our last blog post we discussed the “Top 5 tips for preventing cybercrime” and we hope that these tips and new measures can help put a stop to the on-going battle with cybercrime.

Top 5 tips for preventing cybercrime

Have you ever been attacked by cybercrime or in need of some dire help to fight cybercrime? Well if so you’ve come to the right place. Today Frank Domains has decided to fight back against cybercrime coming up with a list of the 5 top tips to help prevent cybercrime.

1. Do the basics well; including knowing who has control of passwords and sensitive data, ensure passwords are frequently changed and if possible, use systems which allow Factor 2 security (keyfob device which generates a random number).
2. Close vulnerable parts of your system; which usually means your web server. File transfer protocol (FTP) access should be strictly controlled, with only one account holder who is able to contact the server company. Also be aware of the options available and try to avoid cheap shared hosting package, a dedicated server is best.
3. Keep your domain safe. This includes who has access from your business; as well as the company you choose to look after your domains. The UK’s biggest provider (123-reg) had a major disaster last year, when hackers found out by changing a single domain in the url of the browser, they then had access to other people’s web space.
4. Use the latest version of mysql (a relational database management system) and php (Hypertext Preprocessor, scripting language) in all web systems.
5. Be cautious of uploaded files; because any system which allows the public to upload a file is at risk. Files should never be uploaded to the same server as your live systems; they should be directed to an extra server away from your web structure, encase of hackers uploading malicious documents with threats. This covers everything from submission of CVs online, to uploading images when the public is involved.

The keypoint is your security is only as good as the weakest component; which sometimes it is out of your hands and control. If your hosting company accidentally gives your password to who they believe is the rightful owner asking for details; (this has happened to a multinational vendor) then there is not much you could have done.

So the most important aspect is to have a backup strategy in place; as cyber crime is an inevitable risk when you are actively working online. A backup strategy should include your data, your website in another location and your domain DNS (domain name system) in a backup location.

If in doubt speak with little Frank!