How To Protect Yourself from Doxing?
It is nearly impossible to avoid being a doxing victim because most people have a vast amount of personal information posted online. However, there are steps you can take to make sure that the most sensitive information—that which could do the most damage—does not get abused by a doxer.
Use a VPN
A virtual private network (VPN) takes your internet transmissions, encrypts them, and sends them securely through the internet. On the other end, the data is decrypted so it can be read or used by the other party or entity. While the data is in transit, however, a doxer cannot be able to use it unless they have the decryption algorithm.
Use strong passwords
A weak password—such as one that is a derivation of your name, a predictable series of numbers, or a word—is easy to guess by a doxer. However, there are steps you can take to make it far more difficult for a doxer to attack you. These include using different passwords for each of your accounts, using obscure combinations of letters, numbers, and symbols, or using a password manager that generates and stores passwords that are very hard to guess.
Change your privacy settings from time to time
If you use social media and post potentially sensitive or private information, you should, from time to time, review your privacy settings and change them. When you use social media for professional purposes, it can sometimes be useful to keep some of your account information public.
Changing privacy settings every now and then can help keep information you do not want abused from being accessed by anyone who can see your profile information, pictures, posts, or likes and dislikes.
Stay away from phishing emails
Anytime you get an email that appears to come from a bank or credit card company, be aware, especially if they are asking for private information. In addition, be careful when clicking on a link to any website sent through an email. If, after you get to the website, you are asked to enter information, you may be exposing yourself to doxing risk if you comply.
Create separate email accounts for separate purposes
You may want to consider using different email addresses for social interactions, work, and spam. Your work email, particularly if you are self-employed, would be used for professional interchanges. However, whenever you sign up for an offer or subscribe to something, you can use your spam email address. Personal, casual interactions can be handled on your social email address. Using different logins and passwords for each one makes it harder for a doxer to crack your email address, and if they do, they may not be able to gain access to everything they need.
Keep in mind that a spam email can often be used to go straight to a user account with details in the account profile. It is important, therefore, to make your spam email particularly difficult to hack into.
Keep your social media privacy in check
When you post something on social media, it is put out there for the public to see, and in some cases, it could be grabbed before you have the chance to take it down.
Even if you use a pseudonym, it is easy for doxers to figure out your real identity by cross-checking one social media account with another, particularly using your friends and how they mention you. They may refer to you by your real name instead of your pseudonym, thereby exposing your identity. Also, when one social media account has your real name but others have fake ones, a doxer can easily deduce who you are.
Hide domain registration information from WHOIS lookup
Because WHOIS contains contact information, including information about your physical address, it is best to hide your information when you sign up for a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or domain name. Making your information private is straightforward, and if you are unsure how to do it, ask your domain registrar.
Be mindful of providing app permissions
When you take an online quiz, it may be administered using an app. To sign up for the app, you may be offered the option to give it permission to access your social media information. If you provide app permissions to a doxer, they can use what they find to attack you. Also, if the app does not have adequate security, a doxing hacker may penetrate their system and get all your information. It is often better to sign up by providing a unique username and password instead of giving the app access to one of your social media accounts.
Protect your financial accounts
A doxer may publish your financial information, so take steps to make sure it is secure. However, if they succeed, immediately reach out to your bank or credit card provider and make sure your accounts are closed or otherwise protected.
Check how easy it is to dox yourself
If it is easy for you to dox yourself, it is just as easy—or easier—for an experienced doxer. You can try doing a Google search, reverse image searching using your picture, going through your social media profiles, or checking to make sure your email account information has not been compromised in a published data breach.
You can also check your professional profile information, including resumes and curriculum vitae (CV), to see if you're comfortable with that information being available to the public.
Set up Google alerts
You can arrange for Google to alert you in the event your name, number, address, work address, or additional personal information appears online. This way, you can stop a doxing attack right away.
