High-Tech Hijack

Canadian non-profit agencies locked out of cyberspace after thieves steal domain name

  Thousands of Canadian non-profit and charity web sites were left without Internet access this week after hackers stole the domain name of their Internet Service Provider.
  The Toronto-based ISP, Web Networks, provides Internet services to 3,500 non-profits and charities including the Canadian Auto Workers and the Canadian Labour Congress. Executive Director Tonya Hancherow discovered the theft Monday morning after clients complained that they could not access their e-mail or Internet sites.
  On Friday, the thieves asked the domain registry, Network Solutions, to transfer web.net's contact name and the IP numbers to an account in Indonesia. Network Solutions complied with the e-mailed request without requesting the proper authorization.
  The thieves stole at least one other domain, bali.com, which belongs to a Bali travel comapny. Each domain would sell for about $100,000.
  Web Networks has since regained access to web.net, but the thieves still control the domain. In the meantime, non-profit clients are using an alternative website: www.web.ca

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For more information about the theft, please visit www.web.ca.

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