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Doxing -- Something To Expect More of In 2015

Posted by Soulskill on from the can't-we-just-be-excellent-to-each-other dept.

HughPickens.com writes: When asked about trends to expect in 2015, Bruce Schneier points to doxing as a likely candidate. Doxing is not new, dating back to at least 1987 when Robert Bork's video tape rentals were leaked to the press. Usually it's things like an address and phone number, but it can also be credit card details, medical information, private e-mails—pretty much anything an assailant can get his hands on. "Everyone from political activists to hackers to government leaders has now learned how effective this attack is. Everyone from common individuals to corporate executives to government leaders now fears this will happen to them. And I believe this will change how we think about computing and the Internet."

2 of 171 comments (clear)

  1. The problem with doxing by Solandri · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Is that everyone has some skeletons in the closet they're hiding. Yours might not be as severe as someone else's, or it may be from back when you were a stupid teen. But there's something that would embarrass you or tarnish your reputation if it were made public. Maybe you tried smoking weed in college, or you had sex with your high school GF when she (and you) were technically underage, or all manner of other things.

    So if facts uncovered by doxing becomes accepted as legitimate grounds for disqualification, then the only people who will get the good job positions or get elected will be the liars who are exceptionally good at covering up their history or shifting blame onto others.

    Instead, what needs to happen is for people to stop demanding perfection from others. Everyone is human, and humans are fallible. Someone who claims to have never failed, to have always done the right thing, is almost certainly a liar, a con artist.. That's what should raise suspicion about someone's fitness for a job or elected office - the absence of any skeletons in the closet. If society can change to where we accept that we're all flawed and that a few flaws shouldn't automatically disqualify us, then doxing largely becomes irrelevant and IMHO our world will become a much nicer place.

  2. Re:That is not doxing by 91degrees · · Score: 5, Informative

    There's a reason doxxing is mainly associated with 4chan, 8chan and other pedophile websites.

    Jezebel writer doxxes autistic kid.
    Rebecca Watson promotes Doxxing.
    Reddits ShitRedditSays subreddit digging up names of gamergaters.
    A tumblr related website all about doxxing

    Something about throwing stones in glass houses springs to mind here.