Not much shocks me anymore, but my friend Christine Cobb gave me a link to a video on YouTube where a Godaddy user shares his screen. His "new" Godaddy account is either hacked, merged, glitch-y or I have no clue what happened!
Warning: Video has some vulgar text. And the video may make you a bit dizzy, but watch it in it's entirety to see how messed up his account is:
Be sure to read the author's (Noun Verber) description on YouTube for more details here.
Think about what this user could have done to the other websites or account information. And what about his account information? Where is it? Who has it? Yikes! In my opinion, this is a major security breach.
WordPress Security Tip:
Never host your website at the same place you register your domain. Think about it. If your account gets compromised they can mess with your domain, emails AND your website files and database!
Right now I have my domain registered at Godaddy and my WordPress site hosted at HostGator.
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I would love to know what happened to this account or what GoDaddy had to say. What do you think about hosting your website at the same place you register it? Post your comment below.
About Regina Smola
Wow, that really is messed up and I'd like to know what happened to it as well. I too have my domains at GoDaddy and my sites on HostGator, but I didn't do it for security reasons at the time. That's ended up being a side benefit. Will be looking for any follow up you have on this.
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Thought it might be a clever viral as they go back to the domain names so much but turns out the domains still aren't in use so I guess I believe it. Not used GoDaddy for a long time but this is definitely worrying for people that do!
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Hi Regina
"Never host your website at the same place you register your domain."
But lots of people must do that!
Fortunately, I don't - more by luck than judgement.
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Crazy stuff Regina, and more than a little unsettling...
Hope you can use your higher-up contacts at GoDaddy to speak to them about this and find out what's going on - then follow-up with an email to let the rest of us know!
Thanks for keeping us all informed.
Hi Regina,
Thanks for this. In my experience, almost everyone I have worked with who has domains registered at GoDaddy has a very insecure password - eg their wife's number with a number. However, it looks like in this case, GoDaddy associated two accounts together. That's not good. Doesn't look like a hack or end user issue.
However, given what this guy could have done to their accounts, he could have simply pointed the DNS to a different host even if the hosting was elsewhere thus effecting the same amount of "damage" as having hosting and registration at the same place.
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I had the same question as you. Who has access to his account? Have you seen anywhere that GoDaddy has responded to this video?
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I have not seen any updates on what Godaddy had to say or how they handled it. Inquiring minds want to know.