What is Cyber Stalking & its Prevention.

Cyber Stalking is a crime in which the attackers used the Internet & other technologies to harass a victim or stalk another person online or using a electronic communication such as e-mail,or instant messaging (IM) or messages posted to websites or a discussion group.It relies upon the anonymity afforded by the internet to allow them to stalk their victim without being detected.

It is a online version and often an extension of offline stalking.The main aim is to annoy,alarm & emotionally abuse another person.It is a online crime that disrupts lives,instills fear & if taken offline may result in physical violence to the targeted victim.It may obtain personal information such as home address,mobile number from the Internet and utilize this information to meet their victim in person.While their techniques are similar to those used for identity theft,the main goal of cyber stalking is not financial.The main purpose or intent is to do damage,harass or otherwise harm the target of their actions,which may be accomplished through identity theft.

    Fig:Cyber-Stalking

Means of Cyber-Stalking

• When leaving a messages on an individuals online post,publication,web blog or website with the intent to threaten,harass,harm & cause emotional distress.
• Sending a online corresponding that is unwanted and inappropriate.
• Hacking an individuals computer.
• Sending harassing message to an individuals friend,family,employee,teachers,coworkers or other community members,either in their name or in the victim’s name.

Measures to Prevents Cyber-Stalking

• To learn about the privacy setting & use them.Each social media has a unique privacy settings.
• To use a multiple factor authentication(MFA ) or two-factor authentication method.
• To carefully share your personal information on a social media or public accounts.
• Do not be follow or accept friend requests that you do not personally know or do not reply to requests from individual that you do not known,especially through personal e-mails or phone.
• Without your permission,your friends or anyone not to share your personal information.
• To use strong or different password for each online accounts.Be sure to change the password them every few months.

    Fig:Measures to Prevents Cyber-Stalking.