One of the worst things that can happen to anyone is to be exposed on the Internet. Sadly this is an incident that is already too common in the most diverse forms. The rationale behind a superficial exposure is when you say something that triggers a third party, so he does everything in his power to find any information on the web to doxx you. The term is not uncommon on most social circles found online. Doxxing is better defined on an entry published in the Urban Dictionary website.
The basics behind it are when somebody name drops you to your contacts or employers, showing evidence to something they consider unethical behavior on your behalf online. The people who pursue this course of action have their minds set into shaming you or affecting your livelihood for saying something offensive. It only works with the information you allow to be out there in your social network profiles about you.
Facing the Consequences of Our Actions Online
If you are one of the smart ones, who doesn’t publish every single aspect of your life on Facebook it still doesn’t mean you are safe. While it’s not common these days, a doxxer can look for ways to get back at you using unethical hacking methods to gain access to your personal information to damage you or your loved ones. Just the mere thought seems implausible at first, but a quick search online will prove you that doxxing and hacking go hand to hand, and you don’t need to do much of anything to be a victim of it.
The hack is not exactly difficult to do, a lot of people posts tutorials on how to do it as well as the programs that can be used to achieve these goals, most of their strategy is akin to “sniffing” your web habit as it happened back in the early 2000’s. As we have already stated, these practices are usually pursued by an unethical hacker who needs to have at least some technical knowledge to be able to spy on you. It all begins with their ability to profile you based on your web searches.
Weak Browsers Don’t Help at all
Most of the tutorials published online about these phishing methods gather a lot of evidence at the weaknesses most of the popular web browsers have. Chrome, Firefox, and MS Edge have terrible security protocols that allow them to keep working on the ongoing improvements of their web tools but leave an opening to be exploited. A hacker can easily make use of these back doors to get access to anything he needs to get back at you, from banking information to any form of questionable search you do on your free time.
These questionable practices are just one more of the many reasons to be cautious online. In 2018 there are still people who regard the world wide web an “unreal” place where everything you say and do “doesn’t count.” Being faced with our inner demons because somebody didn’t like our way of thinking or a joke done in poor taste can be enough reason for many to turn their backs to the Internet, but in this day and age that’s almost impossible. It’s best to be careful with our info, for our sake.