Doxing, The Threat To Reveal Your Personal Data
The Doxing is a term from the English word documents. It consists of the abbreviation of doc (dox) and the suffix -ing .
Today, in the 21st century, Internet era, there is no longer a person who does not have a Facebook account, or a company with a website, or a person who buys online … computers have made our life much easier. However, these new possibilities have also generated new problems, dangers or threats. Furthermore, despite the good use we can make of it, there will unfortunately always be a flip side. A dark side, which some people will take advantage of.
How does doxing work ?
The doxing is mainly to create a complete profile of a person or company through the collection of personal information. We can think: this information is already public in our social media profiles. Where is the problem ?
This profile created by doxing contains much more personal information. Information which is not public on the web, but which, nevertheless, has been obtained by linking different data which is freely available. Indeed, some of our references, which we believe to be “hidden”, are in fact easily accessible.
The Doxing simply uses the internet to search for the details of a given person. The danger of this method is that it starts with a simple name, “username” , age, phone number, e-mail, photos, etc. Basic personal information constituting the start of this type of investigation. In other words, doxing is not just about collecting information that is already public. The latter also make it possible to obtain other personal data.
This practice is not a crime in itself. In the end, we only collect information on a topic. What will constitute a crime, however, is the purpose for which we use this information or how we obtain it.
- The first case will be defined by the clear intention to harm the victim. Use this information to cheat, impersonate, harass, threaten, etc.
- In the second case, we will refer to the use of computer tricks (which require a deeper knowledge) to obtain the information. For example, asking the person to download a document containing hidden malware (malicious document) to obtain bank account numbers, medical information, etc.
Some doxing instruments
- Google and other search engines like Yahoo, Bing, etc. These are tools accessible to all. They allow you to quickly and easily get posted photos of the person, the social sites where they appear, phone numbers, email account ID, etc.
- Social networks. Facebook is the most used, along with LinkedIn. Indeed, we publish a lot of information about our life. The professional use which we make of it sometimes obliges us to put truthful information which expose us to this type of attacks.
- “Whois search”. Used to obtain information about the owner of a domain or an IP address.
What are these possible effects?
The damage inherent in doxing . This will primarily depend on the purpose of doxing, although the effects always overlap.
On a personal level, the most significant damage is the feeling of insecurity that the doxing induces. Obtaining the home address is a clear demonstration that “we are not safe even at home”. All of this can also generate anxiety and moral damage. Indeed, this information is sometimes used to humiliate, harass and persecute the victim. Fear, of course, is another effect.
On a material level, doxing can cause the loss of bank accounts or passwords that give access to sensitive personal information, for example. All of this is linked to a possible loss of money, the need to create a new company, to change domicile, etc.
Likewise, the consequences of doxing do not only affect the victim himself. His family and close friends can also be affected. When so much data about a person is exposed, the environment close to the person is also exposed. A kind of snowball effect that is very difficult to stop is thus generated.
The doxing can it be avoided?
Once on the Internet, it is very difficult, practically impossible, to leave this world and become “anonymous” again. The only thing we can do is follow a series of guidelines that make it difficult to get this information.
The main thing is to try to reduce and minimize the amount of information that we post in our social profiles. This is sometimes unavoidable. In this case, we must strengthen security.
- Privatize certain information, such as photos, e-mail, phone number in social networks. Do not allow free access to this type of data. And, if the publication of said data is not really necessary, do not put them.
- Use strong passwords. Mix numbers, uppercase, lowercase, etc. may not be an obstacle for hackers. Today there are programs that are breaking down these security barriers. However, we will make it more difficult for them. Also, do not use the same password for multiple domains and pages.
- Avoid as much as possible to indicate in our messages the exact place where we are in real time.
- Use different email accounts for each case : work, social networks, personal email, bank accounts, etc.
For exemple…
A tent was set up in Brussels (Belgium), in which it was proposed to read the minds of the volunteers. Some agreed and the fortune teller totally impressed them. He knew all kinds of information about them. Information that they had not even confided to those around them. How did he know?
You are on file as soon as you go on the Internet. Even if we do not have any type of social profile, the administrations operate via the network, storing customer data (medical records, account movements, addresses, purchases made, etc.). It’s inevitable. But if we heed the warnings and take care of everything we post on our own, we can at least minimize the chances of becoming a potential victim of these types of malicious practices at some point.
Bibliographical references
Schreibman, E. (2015).
Andress, J. (2013). Doxing and anti-doxing information reconnaissance for the stalker and the stalked
Our thoughts In this article, we’ll explain how to get rich on the Internet, while maintaining a certain balance.
