Web design sites hit by domain theft

As outlined by Chris Coyier in a post on CSS-Tricks, a number of sites in the web design community have had their accounts hacked and domains stolen. The perpetrator has attempted to extort thousands of dollars from the domain owners, demanding money for the return of the domains. The registrars and hosts involved are varied and have also differed in their responses, ranging from quick and helpful acts of cooperation to miring owners in bureaucratic wrangling. In the case of kirupa.com, Coyier remarks that "NetworkSolutions currently doesn't believe Kirupa Chinnathambi that he was the original owner of the domain, which is batshit crazy."

We spoke to three of the site owners affected by the scam to see what was going on. Designer and entrepreneur David Appleyard told us while it was hard to be certain that design blogs were specifically targeted, "based on the fact that the hacker was ultimately trying to extort people, I expect he was going after domains and sites that were large enough to have a decent income".

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The Creative Bloq team is made up of a group of design fans, and has changed and evolved since Creative Bloq began back in 2012. The current website team consists of eight full-time members of staff: Editor Georgia Coggan, Deputy Editor Rosie Hilder, Ecommerce Editor Beren Neale, Senior News Editor Daniel Piper, Editor, Digital Art and 3D Ian Dean, Tech Reviews Editor Erlingur Einarsson and Ecommerce Writer Beth Nicholls and Staff Writer Natalie Fear, as well as a roster of freelancers from around the world. The 3D World and ImagineFX magazine teams also pitch in, ensuring that content from 3D World and ImagineFX is represented on Creative Bloq. 

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