US mogul foils £500 web name hijack scheme

AN American multi-millionaire has come to the rescue of a Leith businessman whose website was hijacked by a hacker.

Internet mogul Bob Parsons owns the domain registry firm GoDaddy.com which web designer David Airey used to log his own site.

Mr Airey was shocked to discover, earlier this month, that a hacker had broken into his e-mail account and used the details to steal www.davidairey.com.

The hacker, believed to live in Iran, then demanded up to £500 for its return.

Mr Airey refused to give in to the ransom demand, despite facing the loss of £5000 of new business while his site was down.

Mr Parsons, a flamboyant former marine who served in the Vietnam War, contacted Mr Airey, 28, and asked for a copy of his driver's licence to prove his identity, allowing GoDaddy.com to transfer his domain name back.

Mr Parsons was contacted by online users who were regular readers of Mr Airey's blog.

Mr Airey, of Easter Road, said: "It's a testimony to the goodwill of the blogging community that this situation is now on the way to recovery."