The internet is simultaneously an awesome place, but also a very very dangerous place. If you don’t take the right precautionary measures, you could end up with identity theft, stolen information, or worse case scenario, the police showing up at your door!
If you’ve been on the internet awhile, you might have already met your fair share of internet creepos on Facebook or even forums. But it’s easy to go beyond that.
A lot of questionable activities and tracking on the internet happens through what is called document tracing, or “doxing”. The scary thing is that doxing isn’t really that hard with how much information is out on the internet from various leaks and careless interactions.
Doxing can be used to help malicious users find credit information, addresses, and more. This information can be used for malicious purposes.
So What Does “Doxing” mean, and if you get Doxed What Happens?
Doxing simply means unknown parties getting access to private information that isn’t theirs. Sometimes skype IDs, email IDs, or even social security numbers can be used to dox someone and find out even more information like credit history and addresses.
Fortunately, most people who get doxed are celebrities or other social standouts or targets that can easily be blackmailed. You can find good instances of this when the “fappening” happened, with major celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence having nudes stolen against her will.
However, people who work in high-risk jobs, or on the internet, can also be doxed quite easily if they leak their real name. Youtubers, streamers, bloggers, or anyone online showing their real name–can easily be doxed, so it’s important to take the right precautionary measures.
How to Protect Against Doxing?
Unfortunately, once someone gets your information, there isn’t a whole lot you can do in some ways. Usually this happens once someone gets your information through something online. You have already leaked something.
For example, someone could have your social security number, so you would have to change it to be safe completely, but doing so requires a lot of work. Preventive measures are the best, and once someone does get your information (like your address) there isn’t too much you can do besides maybe move.
But you can step up your security to make these bits of information less effective. In a lot of ways, the most important things nowadays are passwords. So, do you have secure passwords?
#1 USE A PASSWORD MANAGER!
One of the best things you can do to prevent doxing is to use a password manager. Secure passwords with complex characters that are stored behind 2-factor authentication is the best way to stay secure online and keep your accounts safe.
My favorite password manager is LastPass. At first, it can be kind of a pain to implement everything into it, but once you get it setup, it actually makes inputting passwords very easy since you don’t have to remember them all anymore, and they are also super secure and conveniently auto-filled into websites and forms.
#2 HIDE YOUR REAL NAME!
Another way you can protect and prevent doxing is to hide your real name online. Don’t put your real name in forums, game platforms with strangers, or use it with accounts. You should have fake names and accounts to make sure someone you don’t know has your real identity.
It’s probably fine to use your real name on Facebook, since you have a close circle of friends, but keep your profile private and make sure that someone can’t find your real name somewhere else and connect it to your Facebook account.
#3 STAY PRIVATE!
If you have a Reddit profile, or anything else, don’t post stuff online and expect your history and trail to stay private. I’ve found a ton of reddit profiles where people post pictures, and then later have a video somewhere in their profile linking their real name to it, and even locations. This makes it SUPER easy to find someone and dox them or blackmail them. Don’t underestimate how powerful history on the internet can be, and how easy it can be to trace it!
#4 DON’T TALK TO SUSPICIOUS PEOPLE! (Email, Skype, Reddit, Facebook, ETC)
If you have your public name out there, and someone unfamiliar messages you, be careful. Don’t click on any links, and if the individual is trying to blackmail you or something, just delete them, and move on. NEVER pay Bitcoin or give into demands.
Unfortunately, if this happens, the police won’t be much help, and you’ll just have to try to purge information already on the internet, get stronger passwords, and make sure your other accounts aren’t compromised.
#5 USE A VPN!
Using a VPN in a public Wi-Fi hot spot is essential. When you use public Wi-Fi you are using internet that is unsecured and unprotected. Anyone one the network can steal your passwords and information very easily with various tools easily available.
A VPN will encrypt your traffic and information so your passwords can’t be stolen and you won’t leak information this way. At home, it’s also important to use a VPN to protect your IP, and thus your real world location! The question is, which VPN should you get? Well, my top rated VPN is TorGuard. Check it out!
