Get the weekly summary of crypto market analysis, news, and forecasts! This Week’s Summary The crypto market ends the week at a total market capitalization of $2,17 trillion. Bitcoin continues to trade at around $62,300. Ethereum experiences no changes and stagnates at around $2,400. XRP is down by 2%, Solana by 1%, and Dogecoin by 3%. Almost all altcoins are trading in the red, with very few exceptions. The DeFi sector decreased the total value of protocols (TVL) to around…
Understanding Doxxing in the Crypto World
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When experts claim “data is the new oil,” it may be hard to understand all the statement’s implications. But, in short, information and data are receiving a higher valuation on the market year after year.
A few decades ago, Wall Street saw energy-related companies among those with the highest market cap. Today, attention has moved towards data-based companies, such as social networks.
Of course, the other side of the data coin is that information online is becoming more sensitive. Unfortunately, not everyone on the Web has good intentions, and this is where doxxing comes to mind.
Our article will give more details on the doxxing phenomenon, summarizing several typical practices in this group. But, most importantly, we will provide information on preventing doxxing and responding to it.
Understanding doxxing
Today, more than ever, we all deal with documents online. Many frequently shorten the word ” documents ” to “docs.” The “doxing” (or “doxxing”) neologism derives from this usage.
A typical doxxing process consists of three steps:
- First, collecting information: websites such as social networks provide a wide range of user data. As a result, anyone with average technological skills can retrieve personal information from most people.
- Compiling information: once someone collects data from different sources, users can connect the various pieces of information.
- Sharing information: having collected sensitive information on somebody, users could decide to share them against standard privacy rules.
Doxxing aims at revealing sensitive information about anyone online. However, the practice can bring more damage when a user desires to remain completely anonymous online.
Since blockchain and cryptocurrencies primarily rely on an encrypted system, doxxing is a real issue in the industry. Therefore, let us introduce a few typical forms of doxxing in the following section.
Types of doxxing
Doxxers have several tricks that they can use to achieve their illicit goal. Listing the most common strategies may help users avoid falling into these traps:
- IP and ISP doxxing: it may surprise you how easily hackers can retrieve IP addresses. With it, anyone can recover their physical location.
- Spoofing: even worse, hackers may contact your internet service provider (ISP) and collect sensitive data. They need to make an ISP worker believe they are calling from your address (using the spoofing technique).
- Social network doxxing: social networks typically allow users to make their profiles private. However, doxxers take advantage of people who disregard this step.
- Beware of “data brokers”: most people find online terms and conditions too long and complex to read. Many websites deliberately sell your data to third parties without guaranteeing their intentions.
- Sniffing: sniffing software can intercept online data exchange, another popular doxxing technique.
- Phishing: a seemingly ordinary email or message may push us to click on a link. Doxers typically exploit this mechanism to download sensitive data on their victims.
Is it possible to avoid doxxing?
Designing a strategy to avoid doxxing may be too optimistic. However, we can certainly reduce the risk of falling for it.
VPN services, for example, allow users to establish internet connections by using different IPS. Even better, anyone can ask these systems to rotate their IP addresses, avoiding a common doxxing strategy.
While platforms such as Google and Facebook have made significant steps toward data protection, no one should trust them blindly. Think carefully before using these services to log into third-parties websites. If doxxers gain access to these accounts, you may find yourself in trouble.
Social doxxing prevention starts with making our online profile private. Whenever it is possible, go for the tightest privacy settings.
You may have heard that deleting a social network account does not trigger the elimination of your data. Unfortunately, the debate on the matter is still ongoing, making it vital to avoid sharing sensitive data on social media.
The recommendation of being careful with your share data applies to a broad set of other media. Generally, we should always read the online terms and conditions whenever we create an account.
Not everyone may know that many websites clearly state that they may sell your data to advertisers. Since we do not know who these advertisers are, our data may fall into the wrong hands.
Everything we have mentioned is particularly true for the encrypted world of blockchain, with a further recommendation. Those using services like MetaMask should always be careful before connecting a wallet to a new website.
The simple connection cannot, per se, lead to a loss of tokens. However, as users report on Reddit, nothing can stop a doxxing website from retrieving your IP address.
How can doxxing victims respond to the attack?
In doxxing, as in other domains, prevention is better than cure. Unfortunately, at the moment, the tools we can use to fight doxxing could be more sophisticated.
First, we should note that doxxing is illegal, but the policymakers appear to be slower than doxxers. In the U.S., the matter is still in the hands of single States, with no Federal legislation.
To make the matter even more complicated, not all States have bills specifically addressing the issue. Instead, other authorities seem to treat the subject on a case-by-case basis.
In general, doxxing victims can and should report any related matter to the police. However, the national cybercrime authorities in the country typically handle the case.
It may be a good idea to respond by locking social media accounts. Changing any password and even creating new online profiles are also effective operations.
Final thoughts
Doxxing is among the new problems we discovered following the digitalization of the world economy. Since new issues require innovative solutions, we are all looking for the right way to tackle the matter.
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Cyber education is becoming more and more important nowadays. For example, distinguishing between a legit message and a phishing attempt is an essential skill. Furthermore, a data-driven world needs data-educated citizens, and we should always keep this in mind.
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