Instant Messaging Dangers
The Cyber Predator Phenomenon
All parents will be familiar with the growing menace of the online pedophile. Almost every day, news bulletins feature tragic stories of child abuse that has its origins on the Internet.
Most of us will be equally aware of role of Instant Messaging in the ‘grooming’ of children and teens online. It’s a scary fact that 90% of online sexual solicitations of minors take place in chat rooms or through Messenger networks, with 1 in 5 kids believed to have been targeted.
The truth is that chat rooms and IM member directories are like candy stores to the modern day pedophile. They may not be responsible for creating this breed of offender, but they have certainly provided them with a powerful new tool.
Online predators generally operate in one of two ways when it comes to IM. In the fist instance, they will seek to gain a victim’s confidence, frequently posing as like-minded kids who share their interests in music, fashion and the latest celebrity gossip. Great conversationalists, they will often attempt to drive a wedge between the child and their family, exploiting any existing tensions. Sexual content will gradually be introduced into these conversations and it is not uncommon for phone calls, gifts and even face-to-face meetings to follow. This inevitably results in a number of rapes and abductions. The other type of online predator does not waste time and will make their intentions known pretty early in the conversation. Either way, the eventual path of both types will lead to some form of a sexual inquiry.
It's every parent's nightmare, as the following case studies illustrate all too graphically:
1. Jessica met a predator online when she was 13. She received an instant message from someone who said he knew her from elementary school. They chatted together over Messenger for several months. One day the FBI showed up at the family home and told Jessica she had been communicating with a pedophile, and that she would likely have been his next rape victim. Jessica and her mom had considered themselves to be very internet safety-conscious. They had taken precautions such as installing filtering software and not visiting chatrooms, but this did not stop them being fooled.
2. 16-year-old Courtney was molested by a 37-year-old man after they met on AIM. The man misrepresented himself when he exchanged instant messages with the teen over a period of several months. One day he showed up at the girl's after-school job, followed her to the parking lot, forced her into his car, and attacked her. The assailant knew where to find her through the information she had posted in her IM away message.
3. Lisa met a man online when she was thirteen. He claimed to be a young college student. They talked for months via Instant Messenger and she was confident that she knew him well. He gave her the attention and compliments she craved as a lonely and self-conscious teenager. She agreed to meet him at a hotel where she made a frightening discovery—she had been conversing with a forty-one year old pedophile.
The Emergence of Cyber Bullying
Cyber bullying is plain old bullying with a high tech twist. Carried out via IM, SMS, email and other web-based technologies, this modern form of abuse poses a serious and growing threat to the “always on” generation.Instant Messaging has emerged as one of the most popular of the new range of bullying tools. It is important to realize that IM has become a very large part of the social lives of today’s kids and teens. The relationships they form with others in school are extended and maintained through messaging. The conversations and conflicts that arise online often give rise to behaviors that are acted out in person during school or at the local shopping mall. Likewise, a ‘real-world’ conflict can be extended online through endless strings of abusive instant messages. It is not uncommon for groups to gang up on an individual kid, bombarding them with "flame" / hate IMs or infecting their computer with viruses. A third of kids claim to be aware of cases where victims’ IM accounts have been hacked into by bullies and used to send compromising material.
With cyberbullying, there are no tell-tale black eyes, bloody lips and torn clothes that enable parents to identify a problem, but the damage caused by this ‘virtual’ harassment is no less real than with physical bullying. Cyberbullying can be a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week phenomenon that subjects victims to relentless torment.
Malware Threats
For a variety of reasons, Instant Messaging networks have come to be regarded as “soft” and attractive targets for virus writers and online scammers.Now that it has infiltrated both home and office, IM technology is being bombarded by worms, viruses and other malware, with attacks increasing at a rate of up to 400% a year.
The very nature of instant messaging - its informality and immediacy - worsens the danger from malicious software programs. "People tend to let their guard down when it comes to instant messaging, while we have a much more healthy skepticism when it comes to email," explains a senior Internet security expert.
Here are some recent statistics that should set alarm bells ringing: (Maybe put on parents safety guide instead?) 42% of kids have been bullied while online.
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