This TikToker Revealed How Easy It Is to Dox People in Just Half an Hour

Doxing can be a very dangerous thing to go through because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up exposing your private information to countless individuals. Unfortunately, recent innovations in tech have made it so that doxing has become a great deal easier than might have been the case otherwise.

A TikTok users by the name of Kristen Sotakoun has turned doxing into a type of content, since users often consent to her revealing personal information like their birth date. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that it only takes Sotakoun around half an hour at most to find this information and reveal it if she receives permission from the people requesting it.

Sotakoun does this by leveraging something called Open Source Intelligence, and it can be a huge problem for people who want to try to maintain some kind of anonymity or privacy online. While Sotakoun only does this with express permission, there are a number of malicious actors who use similar practices for far more nefarious purposes with all things having been considered and taken into account.

A writer at Engadget asked Sotakoun to dox her, and this led to her discovering just how easy something like this can be. Sotakoun was able to uncover her private Twitter account and Instagram, and she was also able to learn quite a bit about her stepmother as well as her sister who she shares a name with.

This just goes to show that maintaining any semblance of privacy in this modern age has become exceptionally difficult in ways that people might not be able to properly predict or expect. More work needs to be done to educate consumers about the dangers of sharing so much information. They do so under the assumption that their data will always be safe and sound, but Sotakoun and so many others like her are continuing to reveal that this just doesn’t seem like the case in the real world.

Image: freepik
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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Political Spending in the US in 2022 Was 7.5% Lower Than Forecasts

2022 was an important year for the United States of America due to the countless elections that were occurring simultaneously. Election years can be a boon for the ad industry because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up pumping billions dollars into campaigns that seek to promote certain candidates. However, 2022 actually saw this spending miss the mark.

A marketing intelligence firm by the name of AdImpact recently revealed that political ad dollars in the US were 7.5% lower than initially predicted. The forecasted ad spending was at around $9.67 billion, but in spite of the fact that this is the case it fell short by over half a billion dollars to settle at around $8.94 billion instead.

According to estimates, around $1.85 billion was supposed to be spent on House of Representatives races. The final number that was noted ended up being closer to $1.55 billion instead. This shortfall can be seen across the board with almost all types of elections save for downballot races. These were the only elections that ended up exceeding expectations, with the $2.99 billion forecast getting overshadowed by the $3.28 billion final total.

One thing to note here is that some forms of media actually exceeded expectations. Cable news was expected to receive $1.54 billion in ad dollars, which would’ve comprised 15.9% of the projected total. However, when the numbers came, it was found that cable TV received $1.79 billion, and that came up to an impressive 20% of the total ad dollars that came in.

Broadcast television did not perform quite as well. The estimated political ad income for broadcast networks was $4.98 billion, or 51.45% of the total. While broadcast TV was still the biggest player in the arena, it received slightly less than what was predicted with $4.73 billion.

This just goes to show how challenging it can be to make accurate predictions in this regard. AdImpact has stated that it will be using the data from this shortfall to improve the accuracy of future predictions so that they can be used more effectively.

H/T: MP

Read next: 63% of Female Business Owners Found 2022 Exceptionally Challenging
by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Ad Revenue Hits 5 Year Low, Here’s What That Means for the Industry

The digital landscape is largely defined by ad revenue, and it turns out that these revenues have been decreasing over the past few years. A report from PlayWire recently revealed that ad revenues reached their lowest rates in half a decade, and that means that marketers, creators and other people that rely on this revenue have less to work with than might have been the case otherwise.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that we are in a time period where ad revenues are historically known to drop off. Revenues can decrease by a whopping 77% between the months of December and January, but in spite of the fact that this is the case 2022 represented the lowest total from December as well with all things having been considered and taken into account.

When compared to 2021, the month of December in 2022 brought in 30% less revenues. That is concerning because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up creating an imbalance within the industry that could take several years to fully play out in any capacity.

The rise of Covid a few years ago likely played a role in declining revenues across the board. However, things have not picked up despite the pandemic more or less receding from public view. Advertisers have a bearish outlook on the future of the industry, and this could lead to the recovery process taking far longer than it needs to in the near future.

It can be easy to assume that the current drop in revenue is largely being caused by the notorious December to January drop, but that would ignore the reality that December revenues have been stubbornly low as well.

Based on the data presented in this study, the ad revenues from March of 2023 represent an Ad Index of just 23. The index has never come close to dipping this low, even during the absolute heyday of the pandemic. This does not bode well for the future of the industry, and most major players are worried about what the consequences of this dip might end up looking like.

Countless website owners, experienced webmasters and Google AdSense web publishers around the world are beginning to complain about this. A number of them stated that they have failed to meet the threshold required to request a payment for the month for the first time in over a decade. These site owners frequently earned tens of thousands of dollars a month from AdSense revenue, and them not being able to meet the minimum payment amount is a definite sign that something is amiss.

The post pandemic recovery after the lows of 2019 and 2020 made some people think that a better future was on the horizon. Unfortunately, a multitude of factors including global economy upset, inflation and shift in advertising trends have led to ad revenues dipping once again, so we will need yet another miracle to turn the ship around. The data from Ezoic's Ad Revenue Index shows that ad earnings of global sites is slowing down further in 2023. While Optad360's statistics of "websites’ and mobile apps’ programmatic advertising revenue" illustrates an all time low index value.

However, experts are saying that there might still be some hope yet. While the first half of 2023 is likely going to be a nightmare for people who rely on AdSense revenues to any extent, it should be mentioned that the second half of the year is hopefully going to play out far better and that will bolster support for the long term performance of the industry.

It will be interesting to see where things go from here. Industries that rely on ad revenue are in a state of perpetual crisis, and with personal privacy and data protection laws further limiting their ability to grow, only time will tell us the right solutions. Either way, 2023 will be a litmus test that will determine the future of the industry.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Smart home devices are a real life saver, as per this Google survey

Smart home devices have several benefits. They are practical and simple to use, and they can raise your standard of living. Whether it is doorbells, lights, speakers, cameras, or refrigerators, you can monitor and manage all of the daily activities taking place around your home while remaining in your comfort zone. You may utilize smart home gadgets to control lighting, cleaning, heating, and other aspects of your home life while also getting security and safety. They are cheap yet they provide exceptional performance and convenience, greatly easing your daily life. You can also save a ton of time and money with them.

According to a survey of 2,000 U.S. smart device owners done by the market research firm OnePoll sponsored by Google Nest, baby boomers (1946 -1960) tend to adopt smart home technology the fastest. This poll was conducted to help people understand the value of smart home devices and the positive effects that having access to these gadgets may have on their lives.

54% of poll participants reported that they received their first smart home device as a gift, while 1 in 5 people who bought it themselves paid less than $75 at the time.

Also, 16% and 18% of respondents claimed that their first smart home gadget was a streaming device or a camera. 45% of people who just have one smart home gadget at home said they only have a camera as it was one of the first widely used gadgets.

As previously mentioned, baby boomers readily adjust to these devices, and 2/3 of them immediately began using them while 46% of gen Z experienced some trouble setting up their devices. Compared to the millennials, who had the most amount of opposition to these devices, 63% of generation Z expressed the least degree of opposition.

In addition, 51% claimed that they had successfully set up various routines and automation on their devices to make their everyday duties easier.

Nonetheless, 34% of those polled claimed that if they had known the benefits, they would have automated their homes more. However, 27% would make use of their smart home gadgets if they figure out how to utilize them.

According to the director of products at Google Nest, Karen Yao, many people believe that these smart home appliances are only for tech-savvy homeowners, but "Matter," a smart home devices company, enables you to create a great smart home ecosystem for yourself as their devices are much more convenient and customizable to use.

Karen Yao also mentioned that buying these smart home devices is a challenging step but you can always receive some help from your family and friends and you would never regret it.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Snapchat Adds New Element Into Its Family Center So Parents Can Restrict Harmful Content From Kids

Snapchat is giving a closer look at its new features that would be a part of its Family Center.

The company recently spoke about how it would be adding this new insightful approach that allows parents to better restrict all types of harmful content from their own children, providing them with greater control.

This is definitely a smart decision that’s being welcomed with open arms and one that is definitely an added source of transparency as far as the company is concerned.

Snap mentioned recently how it is working hard in this domain to offer great protection to younger audiences that use the platform. It hopes the approach could make people understand better how it ends up ranking uploads and then distributing them further.

For starters, the new update allows the app to make use of a toggle for sensitive content that’s seen in the Family Center’s control panel. It provides a new type of peace of mind so kids aren’t exposed to any type of offensive material on the platform.

This new control in the family center would give parents the chance to filter stores from other kinds of publishers and creators that were identified as either sensitive or suggestive. Moreover, to really allow for Content Controls, it claims parents would need to have a Family Center that’s set up through their teens.

The feature was first launched in August of 2022 and it allows parents to better monitor how children conduct interactions on the app without providing access to real messages. Moreover, it can be seen as infringing children’s privacy as it provides additional assurance as well as insight on the matter.

These types of controls provide parents with more peace regarding how their kids are using the app. Moreover, the bigger update here is that the company is now putting out its entire Content Guidelines in the public eye for the first time.

The goal is to give more insight into content moderation on a specific popular feature of the app including its Stories and Spotlight endeavor.

These kinds of guidelines are usually shared with various media partners and also with the likes of Snap Stars. And by putting out such content guidelines in full for the public to read, the company hopes to provide more transparency on how hard it works to set strict standards regarding eligibility and distribution.

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

New Study Claims ChatGPT Can't Outperform Human Designed Email Phishing Scams

The dangers surrounding AI-powered technology are plenty and that include popular chatbots like ChatGPT.

With the help of such tools, cybercriminals are starting to produce videos on the YouTube app as a way to spread different malware. And it's thanks to a new report by Hoxhunt that we are hearing more about this endeavor.

The company conducted thorough research on the matter of ChatGPT to get an idea of how much danger it actually possesses and the results are alarming, to say the least.

The authors conducted the study by creating a new phishing simulation prompt that was a rival to the likes of the ChatGPT tool. And it was designed to generate phishing emails. See, the test revolved around seeing how can the ChatGPT tool produce more emails that end up convincing humans that they’re authentic. This would in turn force them to click on phishing links.

Around 53,000 users were provided with the respective test emails and generally, the social engineers ended up outperforming ChatGPT by nearly 45%. Below, we’re delineating the key takeaways that engineers at the firm saw during this trial.

For starters, the failure rates for users provided with such emails were contrasted against those having the ChatGPT-designed emails. Moreover, human social engineers ended up performing better than ChatGPT by around 45%.

Thirdly, AI is currently in use by so many threat actors who carry out phishing attacks so the call for the day is security dynamic, and that too is of the best kind. Moreover, they also need to adapt rapidly to the changes taking place in this threat landscape.

Security training is designed to provide the right kind of protection against human clicking on such links that are produced through the likes of AI.

• Also read: Major Tech Companies and Open-Source Projects Among the Most Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks, Report Finds

As far as which types of phishing emails were produced by the leading OpenAI too, the researchers highlighted images with necessary screenshots showcasing the two respective emails.

One was produced by humans and the other by the ChatGPT tool. And it’s shocking how difficult it is to tell the difference, showcasing how great of a job this endeavor is doing.

The news is alarming but it does provide a booster to humans that they’re not being outperformed by AI tools like ChatGPT when it comes down to scams. But remember, this is linked to the older version of ChatGPT and not the latest GPT-4.

Read next: Online Scam Alert: Study Finds Users Vulnerable, Despite False Sense of Security
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

List of famous brands that are mostly impersonated for phishing attacks

San Francisco-based IT service provider company, Cloudfare, Inc., has released a new report in which they highlighted fifty impersonated brands that are mostly used by scammers to lure in their targets. Scammers use famous brands; by mimicking them, they trick users into believing they are the real ones and trap them in their phishing scams.

To better understand what phishing is, the security company explained that it is the act of trying to get hands-on someone’s data, including their credentials and bank account information. Unlike other cyberattacks, these scams are carried out using fake URLs for famous brands. The whole phishing operation has gotten so advanced that not even experts can identify the imposter emails.

According to Cloudflare, these kinds of attacks have become the most reported ones since 2022. Due to them being sneaky and hard to identify, the number of victims keeps  increasing. They also potential enough to cause extreme damage to either a targeted individual or a business. The company further explained that being unable to differentiate between legitimate and illegitimate sites has become one of the most difficult challenges that are currently being faced to minimize the threat.

Out of all the top fifty brands, AT&T, the famous telecommunications company, topped the list as the most impersonated brand used to carry out malicious attacks. It was followed by PayPal, a financial technology company. The third position was taken by Window's parent company, Microsoft. Among the top 10 brands, the fourth spot was filled by DHL, a Germany-based logistics company, and Meta was in the fifth spot. The remaining 5 brands included IRS at 6th, Verizon at 7th, and Mitsubishi at 8th. Companies such as Adobe and Amazon were also in the top 10. While Meta took the 5th spot, its social media services, including Instagram and WhatsApp, also made the list. The company didn’t just highlight the brands; they even shared the domains used by scammers to lure in their victims.

Read next: Analysis: The most frequently compromised websites are Facebook and Instagram
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World