The digital world offers many opportunities for self-expression and development, but it is also a space where disagreements can escalate quickly, and bullying, harassment and revenge are present. Doxxing is a leading form of online retaliation that can have a significant impact on the mental health and physical safety of children. Minimizing the chances of this occurring requires a change in online behavior, for both parents and children.
What is Doxxing?
Doxxing (or doxing) is the deliberate exposure of someone else’s personal information online by a malicious third party. This information may include:
- Name, email address or address.
- Employment or school details.
- Financial and health records.
- Information about family members.
Motivations behind Doxxing:
Generally, doxxing is used as a form of retribution or revenge against the victim. However, it can also be motivated by simple harassment or intimidation, with the aim of silencing the victim. In some cases, doxxing is used to extort money from victims or third parties. A recent example of this occurred when ransomware actors published names, addresses and photos of children from a London daycare to pressure the institution to pay a ransom.
Doxxing Attack Methods
Doxxing attacks typically begin with a reconnaissance phase to collect the target’s personal information. Intelligence gathering methods vary in sophistication:
1. Social media information collection: Doxxers look for details on the victim’s social media accounts, such as frequent locations, workplace or school details. This is easier if the accounts are open or poorly protected.
2. Cross username search: Nicknames or usernames of the victim are searched on multiple sites to accumulate more personal information.
3. Public Records and Databases: Doxxers may use public records (marriage licenses, court records) or WHOIS databases (which store details of domain name registrants).
4. Social engineering and cyberattacks: The most sophisticated doxxers resort to cybercrime techniques, such as: * Phishing: Sending deceptive messages to steal login credentials or personal information. * Malware: Installation of information theft software (infostealer) on the victim’s device. * Cybercrime Forums: Obtaining personal information from previous data breaches or from compromised organizations.
The risks and impact of Doxxing on children
Depending on the information published, doxxing can range from a minor annoyance to an emotionally traumatic event, especially for children and adolescents.
Psychological and Emotional Impact:
- Young people have less emotional resilience and are particularly sensitive to feelings of shame and isolation.
- Doxxing can have a toxic impact on children’s self-esteem, anxiety and sense of isolation, amplified by the importance of acceptance from their peers online.
Physical Risks:
- Intimidation: Doxxers may use the revealed information to physically intimidate victims, or incite other harassers to “join” the attack.
- Swatting: In the most extreme cases, the doxxer shares the victim’s details with law enforcement, making a fake bomb or terrorism threat. This can result in an armed police response, endangering the victim’s life.
Long Term Consequences:
- Personal information revealed today can remain online for years, affecting the victim’s higher education or employment prospects as an adult.
Prevention strategies to minimize the threat
The best way to reduce exposure to doxxing is to minimize the amount of personal information shared online.
1. Privacy Settings:
- Update privacy settings on social networks and deactivate geolocation.
- Review and remove unwanted followers.
- Encourage children to only accept as online friends people they know and trust in real life.
2. Account Protection:
- Use strong and unique passwords, ideally stored in a password manager.
- Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) to mitigate the risk of phishing and information theft.
3. Parental Awareness (Sharenters): *Parents should be careful about what they post about their children. Never share personal details or photos that could identify the children’s school or location.
4. Open Communication:
- Have an open conversation with your children about the dangers of doxxing and the risks of sharing personal information or getting involved in online disputes.
- Make sure the child feels heard and supported, and knows that you will look for solutions instead of getting angry when raising a problem.
What to do if your child has been a victim of Doxxing
If the worst happens, stay calm, do not interact with the doxxer, and follow these steps:
- Document the evidence: Take screenshots of all posts, threats, and places where personal information was leaked.
- Contact Police: If there is a threat of physical violence, contact authorities immediately.
- Report the incident: Please inform the social media or website owner where the information was posted, as this may violate their terms of service.
- Request removal: Consider contacting search engines like Google with a removal request to prevent personally identifiable information from appearing in search results.
- Secure accounts: If you suspect your child’s account has been hacked, change the password, enable multi-factor authentication, and set privacy to the highest level.
- Offer emotional support: Be there for your child, listen to their concerns, and remind them that it is not their fault.
Doxxing can be a very distressing experience, even for the most resilient young people. Getting ahead of the threat today can avoid having to take emergency action tomorrow.