Network Solutions, one of the largest domain registrars, which manages over 8 million domain names, is warning its clients that a rule change at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers will leave domain names open to fraudulent transfers.

In an e-mail sent to its clients on September 10, the domain registrar says the new domain name transfer policy for all accredited domain name service providers eliminates the transfer request approval with the current domain name service provider before any transfer would occur and puts the domain names at greater risk for being "slammed".

To enhance the security of the domain names that customers have registered with Network Solutions and to protect them against unauthorized or fraudulent transfers, Network Solutions will activate on October 18 its free Domain Protect service for all of its customers’ domain names, which blocks domain name transfers until the customer turns the feature “off”, allowing customers to control the transferability of their domain names, and providing protection against domain hijackers.