Doxing, short for "dropping dox," is an online attack in which hackers dig up personal information and documents — hence, the “dox” part of “dropping dox” — to expose the real identities of people hoping to remain anonymous.
The goal is often to shame or harass a victim. Hackers might expose the identity of an anonymous message board troll, for instance, as a way to embarrass that person. They might hope that person loses a job or is shunned by co-workers or friends.
What Information Are Doxers looking for?
In a doxing attack, then, hackers might publish someone's:
- Real name
- Telephone number
- Social Security number
- Home address
- Employer
- Credit card numbers
- Bank account numbers
- Personal photographs
- Social media profiles
Types Of Doxing:
Packet sniffing
This isn't the only way people can crack your online anonymity, though. Experienced hackers can also rely on technology to glean clues about your identity. They might turn to a strategy known as packet sniffing. In this method, a doxer intercepts your internet data, looking for everything from your passwords, credit card numbers, and bank account information to old email messages.
Doxers accomplish this by connecting to an online network, cracking its security measures, and then snagging the data flowing into and out of the network.
IP logging
Another scary trick? Doxers can use IP loggers, too. IP loggers attach a code, one that victims can't see, to an email message. Once victims open these emails, the code tracks their IP addresses and sends them back to the IP logger. This easily gives a doxer quick information about you.
Reverse cell phone lookup
What can hackers learn about you if they have your cell phone number? Plenty, thanks to services such as Whitepages. These reverse phone lookup services let you type in a cell phone number — or any telephone number — to find out the identity of the person who owns the number.
But it’s not just your name that people can discover from such a service. A search on the Whitepages site might also turn up your current and previous addresses. Hackers can also use a reverse phone look-up to search for your criminal and traffic records, financial records, and properties that you own or have owned.
Sites such as Whitepages charge fees to provide anything beyond the city and state associated with a cell phone number. Those willing to pay up, though, can glean plenty of personal information about you from your cell phone number. Be careful, then, with this number: Don’t leave it on social media sites or on forums or message boards.
Social media stalking
Many doxers scour social media accounts to find private information about their targets. Not only do people willingly share personal information on sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram — such as vacations, new jobs and moves — they also provide plenty of key facts about themselves when signing up for these sites, information that determined doxers may uncover. That’s why it’s so important to keep your personal information safe on social media.
Consider Facebook. When you sign up for the site, you have the option to provide everything from your date of birth to your high school and college. Be smart when signing up for social media sites: Don't fill in these fields. Leave them blank.
And when posting on social media accounts, don't be too specific about what you're doing or where you've been. Consider making your social media accounts private so that only specific people can view your posts.
How Can I Avoid Getting Doxed?
Don’t overshare: Don’t overshare on social media or online forums and message boards. Sharing personal information could easily give doxers too much to work with.
Change your privacy settings: Make your posts on social media sites private so that only select people can view them.
Don’t provide personal information: When signing up for social media platforms, don’t provide personal details, such as your date of birth, hometown, high school, or employer information.
Use a VPN: Signing up with a virtual private network, or VPN, can help shield your private information from doxers. When you connect to the internet by first logging into a VPN, your real IP address will be hidden. This means that hackers won’t be able to mine this address for your location or other identifying information.
Be alert for phishing emails: Doxers might use phishing scams to trick you into disclosing your home address, Social Security number or even passwords. Be wary whenever you receive a message that supposedly comes from a bank or credit card company and requests your personal information. Financial institutions will never ask for this information by email.
Certain information should never be shared: Make a vow to never post certain pieces of information online, such as your Social Security number, home address, driver’s license number, and any information regarding bank accounts or credit card numbers. Remember, hackers could intercept email messages, so you shouldn’t include private details in yours.
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