Doxing means collecting and filing the information of individual users or organizations and exposing it on public platforms. By stealing data and sharing it publicly, hackers often use the ‘doxing’ method to intimidate, demand money, blackmail and take revenge. Information Security Specialist İbrahim Yılmazer and Cyber Security Specialist Üsame Seyam drew attention to the precautions that users in the social network can take and made special statements to the Milli Gazete on the subject.
"LET'S BE CAREFUL ABOUT OUR SOCIAL MEDIA POSTINGS"
Information Security Specialist İbrahim Yılmazer, who stated that care should be taken within the scope of data protection, said, “Hackers; can use this method to scare victims, to embarrass them, to ask for money or to take revenge. Let's be careful about our credentials, phone numbers, home addresses, identifying data in applications such as Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari, and our social media posts in particular. This data can be captured and abused by malicious people using various methods (open-source intelligence, social engineering, etc.).”
“A LARGE MASS AT RISK”
Stating that he encountered many people who were exposed to doxing threats, İbrahim Yılmazer talked about the content of an e-mail that was recently received by a businessman, “I would like to convey the content of an e-mail that was recently received by a businessman. ‘Unfortunately I have bad news for you! Thanks to a software I installed on your computer and phone, I had access to all your messages, photos and browser history. We both know how obscene the videos you watch are. If you don't want me to disclose all this, you must send me 20,000 Turkish Liras (TL) in Bitcoin within 48 hours.’ The threat in this example was just an ‘phishing’. But if you are not careful and cautious, you can be in a really difficult situation. Children, youth, politicians, bureaucrats, business people, etc; A large mass is at risk,” he added.
"THE 'LOCATION INFORMATION PERMISSION' IS MORE SAFE NOT TO GIVE"
Cyber Security Specialist Usama Seyam, on the other hand, talked about the precautions that can be taken against doxing and other types of cyber attacks, “‘Metadata’ can be written automatically into the photos taken with the devices like smartphones etc. When these photos are shared on social media and the internet, the address, date/time information and device features can be seen through analyzes that can be made with various tools. It is safer not to give 'location permission' for the camera on our phones. Otherwise, when you share a photo you took at home with the hashtag #PazarSabahı #KahveKeyfi, cyber hackers can find your home address by analyzing that photo. Keep your security awareness alive about what you share on social media and the internet in general. Make your family and your team at work take an interest in information security, especially train them against ‘phishing’ attacks,” he said.
“PREFER THE CELLULAR DATA SERVICE IF POSSIBLE”
Pointing out that it is not necessary to connect to every Wi-Fi network in the process of connecting to the Internet, Üsame Seyam said, “Always consider that your internet traffic can be eavesdropped (sniffing attack) on public networks. When you connect to the internet in a cafe, hotel or workplace, a malicious person on the same network as you can capture your data packets and read their contents; can seize password, credit card information, etc. As a precaution against this, use a VPN and do not connect to public networks unless you have to. Turn off the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth functions of your devices completely when you are in foreign environments (in public places). If you need to connect to the internet, opt for cellular data service if possible. Otherwise, malicious people may collect some information about you (the modems you have connected before, device identification information, etc.) with Wi-Fi adapters.”