07/31/2021 15:00
Clarín.com
Technology
Updated 07/31/2021 3:00 PM
Doxing
is a term from English that is used to describe the practice of
investigating and publishing private information
on the Internet about an individual or an organization, generally for the purpose of intimidating, humiliating or threatening.
This practice of collecting and exposing personal data to the public has become a major danger in an increasingly connected society and is evident, for example, in online dating apps, according to a recent study by the cybersecurity company.
Kaspersky
.
According to this document, one in seven Spanish users was subjected to doxing (seeing how documents or personal information were stolen) when they flirted online and 67 percent of those surveyed affirmed that they are afraid of being harassed by someone they met online.
Sharing too much personal information on dating apps and on social media can lead to big problems down the road.
Users leave a wide trail of identifying information online and this data can be
collected and used by these cybercriminals
, known in this case as doxers.
The danger of not matching
Tinder, one of the dangerous applications for doxing.
Reuters photo
The most widespread problem is cyberbullying: 17 percent of those surveyed admit that they were harassed on social media by a person with whom they did not match.
"
You may find the love of your life online, but unfortunately there are also bots and scammers
looking for prey on dating platforms," warns Anna Larkina, security expert at Kaspersky.
In this sense, it recommends "remembering the basic rules of digital privacy".
"To have a safe online appointment, I recommend not sharing personally identifiable information, such as phone number, location, home or work address, etc. Preventing threats at such an early stage will allow you to enjoy online dating without any fear, "adds the cybersecurity expert.
The survey leaves other worrying data:
11 percent say that a person they matched with
publicly shared screenshots of their conversations;
and
8 percent say that their online date sought personal information from them
to threaten them.
6 percent saw their intimate photos shared online and 9 percent experienced harassment in their real life from someone they rejected on a dating app.
Tips to protect yourself
There are ways around these problems that doxing can bring.
Photo: Shutterstock
To keep personal information protected, Kaspersky recommends handling private data online responsibly, always checking the permission settings in the applications that are used - to minimize the probability that your data will be shared or stored by third parties - and using authentication. of two factors.
"
Be aware of the personal data that you share and with whom
, as well as the degree of trust you have in it; use abstract geotags and do not tag the photos of specific places that you visit regularly; make sure not to show your personal data in the photos that you share, and use secure messaging programs,
with end-to-end encryption,
"add the company's security experts.
Kaspersky warns that there is a series of information that users give and over which they do not have the same level of control.
At this point, they recommend
deleting cookies after each session in the browser
, activating additional functions in the browsers for greater privacy;
use incognito mode and never install unverified applications.
In the same way, it encourages the use of a reliable security solution, such as Kaspersky Password Manager, to generate and secure unique passwords for each account and
resist the temptation to reuse the same one over and over again.
Another interesting tool is Kaspersky Security Cloud, which has a function to find out if any of the passwords that the user uses to access their online accounts have been compromised.
If a leak is detected, this software provides
information on the categories of data
that may be publicly accessible so that the affected person can take appropriate action.
With information from DPA
Look also
"Stalkerware": they warn a growth of more than 700% in programs to spy on spouses
The era of phantom love: I spy on you or I erase myself
