What is Cyberstalking and How to Prevent it?

Internet is definitely a marvelous place. The virtual world has revolutionized our daily lives and has made every thing much simpler. It is impossible to imagine how difficult our lives could get without the internet. But the point is, it is not just all benefits when we are talking about the internet as there are always some downsides to every good thing. One of the challenges of the virtual world is maintaining cyber security to protect our personal data against hacking and hackers. This is because different forms of cyber crimes are threatening our privacy and security. One of the fairly new ways through which cyber criminals can pose risks to our lives is cyberstalking. This article provides you with whatever you need to know about this type of cyber crime along with information on how to prevent it and how to protect our kids against it.

Cyberstalking definition

Sometimes referred to as Internet stalking, e-stalking or online stalking, Cyber stalking is a kind of criminal practice in which the criminal uses the internet to harass or threaten someone. The stalker may use emails, social media, chat rooms, instant messaging clients and any other online medium to harass the victim. The anonymity offered by the internet allows the stalker to harass the victim without being detected.

Cyberstalking is usually accompanied by the traditional form of stalking in which the offender harasses the victim offline and not over the internet. Unfortunately, there is no legal approach to this type of cyber crime, but many governments are trying to make such acts punishable.

We all might have seen different occasions in which a person has been defamed on the internet in a humorous way. But this is different from cyber stalking. Cyber stalking is when the harassed person starts having signs such as anxiety or stress. They might even be afraid of going out because they think the stalker is always watching them.

Why do people cyberstalk

The criminal might have various intents why he or she would start harassing someone through the internet. There are generally two general types of cyber stalkers:

1. Cyber criminals who are paid to defame a person or are trying to extort money
2. Cyber stalkers who are just too bored with their lives and commit this crime as an entertainment

There are different reasons and intents why someone would start cyberstalking. These reasons are listed below:

1. Defaming a person or an organization
2. Personal hatred or supposed revenge
3. The criminal is bored and wants to have fun

How to prevent cyberstalking

The best thing that can be done to prevent cyberstalking is to keep your private information private. Never let anyone access the type of sensitive data that later can be used against you.

The truth is, kids and teenagers are more vulnerable to become a victim of cyber crime because they normally don’t consider the consequences of their actions on the internet. But how can parents safeguard their kids from the risks of the internet and the cyber stalkers?

The first and the best thing that parents can do is to educate their kids about the potential risks of the virtual world. The need to be aware of what might happen if they don’t take their privacy serious.

Another option for parents is to get help from monitoring applications such as Underspy to keep an eye on their kids’ online activities and protect them against the dangers.

what is Underspy?

Underspy is a monitoring application which offers the most comprehensive features for parents who worry for the safety of their kids. Here are some of the features parents can have by installing Underspy:

• Track all incoming and outgoing calls
• Record calls and ambient sounds
• Monitor all incoming and outgoing text messages
• Track instant messengers such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber, WeChat, etc.
• Manage web browser history and block specific websites