Doxing

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Doxing,(spelling variant Doxxing) an abbreviation of document tracing, is the Internet-based practice of researching and publishing personally identifiable information about an individual.[1][2] The methods employed in pursuit of this information range from searching publicly available databases and social media websites like Facebook to hacking and social engineering. It is closely related to cyber-vigilantism, hacktivism, and cyber-bullying.

Purpose

Doxing may be carried out to aid law enforcement,[3] extortion, coercion, harassment, public shaming, and other forms of vigilante justice.[4]

Notable examples

Anonymous

Main article: Anonymous (group)

The term "dox" entered mainstream public awareness through media attention attracted by Anonymous, the Internet-based group of hacktivists and pranksters who make frequent use of doxing,[5] as well as related groups like AntiSec and LulzSec.

In December 2011 Anonymous exposed detailed information of 7,000 members of law enforcement in response to investigations into hacking activities.[1]

Human flesh search engine

Main article: Human flesh search engine

The Chinese Internet phenomenon of the "Human flesh search engine" shares much in common with doxing. Specifically, it refers to distributed, sometimes deliberately crowdsourced searches for similar kinds of information through use of digital media.[6][7]

Reddit

See also: Controversial Reddit communities and Michael Brutsch

Reddit has a site policy of not allowing its users from posting any kind of personal information, except for those of professional people such as a senator or a CEO of a company. Some users have been completely banned ("shadowbanned") from the website for doxing. One of the most notable doxing incidents occurred in October 2012, when Adrian Chen, a journalist for Gawker, revealed the identity of violentacrez, a user who moderated several subreddits (communities) of perverse nature, as a Michael Brutsch, a computer software programmer from Texas.

Journalists

Journalists with the Westchester County newspaper The Journal News were accused of doxing gun owners in the region in a story the paper published in December 2012.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ryan Goodrich (2 April 2013). "What is Doxing?". TechNewsDaily.com. Retrieved 24 October 2013. 
  2. ↑ James Wray and Ulf Stabe (2011-12-19). "The FBI’s warning about doxing was too little too late". Thetechherald.com. Retrieved 2012-10-23. 
  3. ↑ Bright, Peter (2012-03-07). "Doxed: how Sabu was outed by former Anons long before his arrest". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2012-10-23. 
  4. ↑ "Did LulzSec Trick Police Into Arresting the Wrong Guy? - Technology". The Atlantic Wire. 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2012-10-23. 
  5. ↑ "Anonymous's Operation Hiroshima: Inside the Doxing Coup the Media Ignored (VIDEO)". Ibtimes.com. 2012-01-01. Retrieved 2012-10-23. 
  6. ↑ Fletcher, Hannah (June 25, 2008). "Human flesh search engines: Chinese vigilantes that hunt victims on the web". The Times. Archived from the original on March 4, 2009. 
  7. ↑ Branigan, Tania (March 24, 2010). "How China's internet generation broke the silence". The Guardian. 


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