Transferring a domain name from one company to another traditionally entails the use of a special domain name authorization code, which different companies refer to as an EPP authorization code, a domain name password or an Auth code. This code can be used as a protection mechanism against unsolicited transfers with all gTLD and with most ccTLD extensions. The code can be obtained only by the owner of the specific domain and is issued by the current registrar company. It must be given to the new domain name registrar company because the transfer process cannot be started without it. The code is case-sensitive and ordinarily comprises of numbers and special characters, so as to stop unauthenticated persons from hijacking it. Some companies even reset the codes of domain names registered through them after a certain period of time for even greater security.