How to Respond if You Are Threatened or Doxxed

Thu, 18 Jul 2024 19:53:07 +0700

TL;DR / Geek Summary:

Cyber Defense: Analyzing the “Doxing + Intimidation” pipeline common in Chinese internet subcultures.

Strategy: Minimizing the threat of low-cost intimidation (e.g., mail-in threats) and understanding why police reports often hit dead ends.

OpSec Advice: Rigorous data isolation—never leak personal info to non-inner circles and avoid untrusted ingress vectors (links/scrapers).

# Introduction

Doxing (also known as “opening the box” or exposing someone’s household register) and intimidation have become frequent occurrences on the Chinese internet. Leaking personal information can make the victim fearful, thereby stopping them from continuing to do certain things.

# Doxing and Intimidation Go Hand in Hand

These two are usually connected. After doxing someone and obtaining their personal information, the abuser will send this info to the victim to achieve an intimidating effect. Threatening first and doxing later is rare, mostly seen among penniless elementary school kids.

Intimidation simply relies on low-cost methods to scare the victim, such as extreme verbal abuse or threatening to send razor blades. I am completely used to this method because, in the Minecraft PvP hacker community I am in, most of the kids don’t have the money to actually pay for a dox. At most, they just talk big. If they actually sent me razor blades, I’d just use them to cut things—free stuff, why not use it?

Actual doxing is generally seen among vocational school students or delinquents with a bit of money. When they get into a dispute with someone, they usually collect the person’s personal information first, and then go straight to Telegram to publicly expose the victim’s data.

# Cases

Other cases can be found all over the place; it is an incredibly common occurrence.

# How to Prevent Being Doxxed

Do not give out too much personal information to anyone other than your close friends and family, and never casually click on websites or links provided by strangers.

# Does Calling the Police Work?