Doxxing or doxing is an alteration of ‘docs’, plural of ‘doc’ which is short for ‘document’.
To search for and publish (textually or by screen capture) private or identifying information (credit card information, physical address, social insurance number, etc.) about a particular individual or organization on the Internet, typically with malicious intent.
The methods employed to acquire this information include searching publicly available databases and social media websites (like Facebook), hacking, and social engineering. It is closely related to Internet vigilantism and hacktivism.
Doxxing may be carried out for various reasons, including to aid law enforcement, business analysis, risk analytics, extortion, coercion, inflicting harm, harassment, online shaming, and vigilante justice.
Common Doxxing Methods
Anyone can harvest information from the Internet about individuals. There is no particular structure in place for doxxing, meaning someone may seek out any kind of information related to the target.
A basic Web search can yield results. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and Linkedin offer a wealth of private information because many users have high levels of self-disclosure (i.e. sharing their photos, place of employment, phone number, email address), but low levels of security. It is also possible to derive a person’s name and home address from a cell-phone number, through such services as reverse phone lookup. Social engineering has been used to extract information from government sources or phone companies.
In addition to these, a doxxer may use other methods to harvest information. These include information search by domain name and location searching based on an individual’s IP address.
Once people have been exposed through doxxing, they may be targeted for harassment through methods such as harassment in person, fake signups for mail and product deliveries, or through swatting (dispatching armed police to their house through spoofed tips).
A hacker may obtain an individual’s dox without making the information public. A hacker may look for this information in order to extort or coerce a known or unknown target. Also, a hacker may harvest a victim’s information in order to break into their Internet accounts or to take over their social media accounts.
The victim may also be shown their details as proof that they have been doxed in order to intimidate. The perpetrator may use this fear and intimidation to gain power over the victim in order to extort or coerce. Doxing is therefore a standard tactic of online harassment.
The ethics of doxxing by journalists, on matters that they assert are issues of public interest, is an area of much controversy. Many authors have argued that doxxing in journalism blurs the line between revealing information in the interest of the public and releasing information about an individual’s private life against their wishes.
“hackers and online vigilantes routinely dox both public and private figures”
Source: Wikipedia
