Doxing

The term doxing or doxxing refers to the often illegal act of using tools and resources on the Internet to research and obtain personally identifiable information about an entity, a government agency, a celebrity, a corporate executive, a federal or state/provincial employee, or even a regular person. This entry further describes doxing and its legality, the motivations and consequences of doxing, and several high-profile doxing-related incidents. It then looks at doxing tools and methodology and strategies that individuals and companies can use to mitigate doxing.

Doxing is often used as a means to facilitate identity theft, cause reputational damage, extort money, or gain information about individuals as a part of a hacking activity. It is a relatively newly invented word that gets its root from the ...