Doxxing is the collection and publication of personal information that exists online, with the intent of harassing through the exposure of an individual. While not technically illegal, it is clearly considered harassment by most internet users.
Thus, bills have been proposed to establish its prohibition by law and to be considered a criminal offense.
Doxxing Do I have to worry?
Probably not. Doxxing is generally a targeted form of harassment, and if you have no reason to worry, you are probably safe. You usually make it to famous Internet users, or real-life users. Many Internet users have an electronic nickname, avoiding disclosing more information about them.
Here comes the doxxing.
After searches, the real name, but also other private information, is revealed and published online, revealing the true identity of a person to everyone. This of course is a significant violation of the victim's privacy.
If your name is publicly released, your phone number and your real address make you vulnerable to too many online crimes, such as swatting, physical harassment, and stalking to name a few of them. Of course, and you are more vulnerable to targeted attacks Phishing, as attackers know much more information that could spark your interest.
Let's mention that if your internet presence is not important, you don't need to worry. But if you are public face and you take part in political (and non) discussions, on websites like Twitter and Facebook (which have stored many of your personal information) a wrong word can cause reactions from those who disagree with you.
Occasionally, we have seen very unfortunate events with wrong doxxing, like 2013, when in Reddit accused a wrong person for the terrorist attack in Boston. The accused was not the bomber. He was a victim who had died after the bomb exploded, and his family had to deal with his defense until the real suspect was found.
How to protect yourself
The majority of doxxing attacks occur where there is personal data, ie through social networks rather than hacking on personal computers.
It is very difficult to stop it because there are users who share too much data online. Here, let's say that even if you think your information is hidden, it is not.
For example, even if you have hidden your birthday in the Facebook, με μια αναζήτηση στο timeline σας για τους όρους “χρόνια πολλά” “να ζήσεις” “Happy Birthday” κλπ, τα γενέθλιά σας θα εμφανιστούν. Μόλις ο επιτιθέμενους μάθει το πότε ακριβώς γεννηθήκατε, μπορεί να έχει πιο εύκολη access σε δεδομένα που υπάρχουν σε άλλες υπηρεσίες.
So hiding your birthday can only protect you from people who do not know how to discover data.
On the other hand, hiding all your personal information is contrary to the terms of social networks.
There is definitely no sense in not posting your address, telephone number or birthday on the internet, but there are also some who can infer a lot about you from your seemingly innocuous publications. Every little detail can be used to reveal the next.
Deleting old posts and being aware of what data your posts hide is a choice which can help you if you don't choose the radical solution of completely deleting your account.
