

Social media monitoring and social listening are just some of the tools offered to corporate executives who are conscious about their reputation, both in the boardroom and online. Social media gives everyone the power to share information, opinions, and details about corporate executives, sometimes in an effort to slander or harass targets. “Doxing” is the latest form of digital harassment, where intimate details of a high-profile target are released online for all to see. AFIMAC social media listening tools can help monitor the discussions of what is being discussed online about a specific executive and identify the source of a doxing attempt and manage the security risks that come with these attacks.
Many executives do not realize that their social media privacy controls are incredibly weak, allowing the general public to see details about their lives, including contact information, home addresses, and personal relationships. Should the wrong person gain access to such information, exposing and releasing such details on a popular social media site can create significant security risks.
Doxing refers to the online posting or publishing of intimate details, contact information, or home addresses of a specific person or target. Ultimately, doxing is an attempt to expose or embarrass a certain individual, disrupt communications, or create security risks for the targeted person. Doxing comes in many shapes and forms but is ultimately malicious as bad actors comb the internet and publicly available social profiles to uncover information for a doxing attempt.
Some corporate executives might feel a doxing attempt is harmless, but such information can be shared incredibly quickly and fall into the wrong hands. For example, if an anonymous person publishes a well-known executive’s personal cell phone number for a large publicly traded company, the result would be a flood of calls that would render the cell phone number useless. In other instances, posting the home address of an executive on an unmonitored social media page during a heated labor dispute could create significant security risks to the senior leader and their family.
In North America, doxing someone falls into a legal grey area, as it is only considered a criminal act if the information being published is collected through hacking into private networks or social accounts.
Social media monitoring provided by AFIMAC can tap into the conversations being had online and prevent risks to executives well before they happen. Many of the listening tools offered by AFIMAC begin with a close examination and audit of publicly available information, scrubbing away contact information, emails, photos, and other identifying information that could be used against senior leadership.
Truthfully, much of the information gathered for doxing is curated from public profiles. AFIMAC can advise on the best practices for social media use as part of an overarching risk mitigation strategy. More importantly, AFIMAC can pinpoint the source of a doxing attempt and identify the individual who published sensitive information online and where it was curated.
With such information, senior leaders can adjust their practices and prevent security risks, including online harassment, home invasion, and public embarrassment. AFIMAC can also be consulted for ongoing guidance during these difficult times, with legal resources available throughout Canada and the United States.
For the image-conscious client, social media monitoring does much more than prevent doxing; it gives important insight into the conversations about you and your company. AFIMAC social media monitoring tools strictly adhere to all North American privacy laws, curating publicly available information that can identify risks, including looming labor strikes, protests against your business, and online slander.
Manage your online reputation and take both physical and digital security risks facing senior leaders seriously in 2023. Contact Jim Rovers of AFIMAC directly at jrovers@afimaccan.com to learn more about available social listening and monitoring tools, risk mitigation, strike security, and so much more.