Online SWATTing, DOXing, & DDOSing: What Parents, Caregivers, & Educators Need To Know!

What is SWATTing?

SWATTing is a dangerous and illegal online crime that involves calling the police to falsely report a serious violent crime at someone’s home (usually involving a weapon), in the hopes of getting a police SWAT team (also known as an Emergency Response Team) to respond to the targeted home. Unfortunately, swatting is becoming more common and being weaponized to target others online (1)(2)(3)(4).

“Some” teens are using a variety of methods to SWAT others, but one primary vector being used – online gaming. When playing online games, players are often required to share their IP addresses (where their internet-connected device is located in the world) in order to connect to the online gaming server which can potentially reveal one’s location. Also, when playing online games, players are often required to share their usernames or gamertags. This information can also be used to track down a player’s physical location (address). Another weaponized SWATTing strategy being used by teens – “Doxing”, something that we will speak to later in this posting.

SWATTing can have serious consequences for everyone involved. Not only is it illegal, but it can also be deadly. When a police SWAT team shows up at someone’s home, they often use armed tactics which involve the use of firearms. This can be terrifying for the people inside the home, which can lead to mental health challenges such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In some extreme cases, innocent people have been injured or even killed as a result of a SWATTing incident (5).

What is Doxing?:

Doxing, also spelled doxxing, is the act of publicly releasing someone’s personal information online without their consent. This can include things like their full name, address, phone number, email address, and even their social insurance number. Unfortunately, like SWATTing, doxing is becoming a more common way where some will use the internet as a weapon to target others (6).

Social media is one of the most frequently used avenues by some teenagers to “Dox” their peers and even educators. It’s not uncommon for teens and adults to post personal information online, such as their full name or the school they attend. This information can then be used by someone to gather even more information about the person, such as their home address or phone number, that they will now use to initiate a SWATTing incident.

Although the doxing of publicly posted personal information is not necessarily illegal, it can have serious consequences that could include harassment, stalking, and even physical harm that could then lead to an arrest. In some cases, people who have been doxed have had to move or change their phone number to escape this type of online crime (7)(8)

What Is DDOSing?

DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks, are a type of cyber-attack that involves overwhelming a website, online service, or home router with a flood of online traffic until it becomes inaccessible. Result – you can no longer access the internet for an extended period of time. Unfortunately, teens are also using the internet to launch these types of attacks on each other or even teachers.

When playing online games, again a common vector for a DDoS attack, players are often able to communicate with each other through voice chat or text messaging. Teens can use these communication channels to coordinate a DDoS attack on a particular player or server. Teens will then use a botnet, which are networks of compromised computers that can be controlled remotely. Teens can use botnets to send massive amounts of traffic to a website or online service, effectively taking it offline.

DDoS attacks can have serious consequences for everyone involved. Not only do they disrupt online services and websites, but they can also cause financial harm to businesses and organizations. If a parent is working from home using the internet, a DDoS attack on a home router will not allow the parent to connect to the internet, which can also become very problematic. Additionally, DDoS attacks can be used as a form of cyberbullying, with teens targeting each other and even their teachers for harassment and intimidation.

What Are Some of the Criminal Consequences of SWATTing, Doxing, and DDoSing in Canada:

Once you reach the age of 12yr in Canada, depending upon thecontext, youth and adults can face several potential charges under the Criminal Code of Canada:

• Unlawful Use and Disclosure of Intercepted Private Communications – Section 193(1) CCC

• Uttering Threats – Section 264.1(1) CCC

• Unauthorized Use Of A Computer – Section 342.1(1) CCC

• Mischief In Relation To Data – Section 430(1.1) CCC

• Criminal Harassment – Section 264(1)(2) CCC

• Extortion – Section 423 CCC

• Intimidation – Section 423 CCC

How Can We Protect Ourselves From SWATTing , Doxing, and DDOSing

• Talk to your kids about the information shared in this article. Parents and Caregivers should encourage their children to be cautious about sharing personal information online, and to report any suspicious activity to the authorities. 
• Tighten privacy settings and minimize or remove any personal address, phone number, or places of work on all social media platforms. However, understand that social media is “social” by design, and there is nothing to stop a “frienemy” from doxing your information for the purpose of a targeted SWATTing or DDoS attack.
• Use a Virtual Privacy Network (VPN) that can mask your IP address, thus making it harder for another person to find your true location
• Use strong passwords and make sure that you are using different passwords on each of your social networks and apps.
• If you can, hide domain registration information that contains personally identifiable information from the database known as WHOIS (9)
• If your child is an online gamer, consider investing in a home router that has an external firewall than can help to block heavy bursts of traffic that can help to minimize a DDoS attack (10)

SWATTing, Doxing, and DDoS attacks are dangerous and harmful forms of online crime that is becoming more common among some teens. By using the internet to launch these attacks, teens are putting themselves and others at risk of harm and could therefore face arrest.  Collaboration between parents, caregivers, educators, and community leaders is crucial to educate our kids about the risks and legal repercussions of engaging in this type of online criminal behaviour. Equally important, teaching youth effective protective countermeasures to safeguard themselves against such malicious and criminal online attacks.

Knowledge and the understanding and application of that knowledge is power!

Digital Food For Thought

The White Hatter

1. https://www.startribune.com/canadian-teen-sentenced-after-swatting-doxxing-across-north-america/318537651/
2. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/lake-echo-family-swatted-days-after-mass-shooting-1.5577694
3. https://globalnews.ca/news/9592908/man-arrested-swatting-calls-u-s-canada-washington/
4. https://globalnews.ca/news/9048763/trans-woman-twitch-streamer-keffals-london-police/
5. https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/gaming/innocent-man-dies-in-swatting-incident-triggered-by-two-call-of-duty-players/
6. https://www.cigionline.org/articles/canadas-convoy-protest-made-everyone-a-doxer/
7. https://london.ctvnews.ca/doxxed-transgender-activist-twitch-streamer-leaving-canada-due-to-ongoing-threats-1.6037531
8. https://mobilesyrup.com/2022/05/17/twitch-streamer-xqc-canada-doxing-swatting/
9. https://monsterhost.com/domain-privacy-remove-public-whois-data/
10. https://www.networkshelf.com/how-to-stop-ddos-attack-on-home-network/