INTERNET SAFETY & INFORMATION AGE FORENSICS 

CYBER ATTACK PREVENTION

iPredator Inc. was developed to confront the widespread growth of cyberbullying, cyber harassment, cyberstalking, online sexual predation, cybercrime, cyber terrorism and online victimization. Their mission is to reduce victimization, abuse, theft and disparagement from online assailants engaged in nefarious and malevolent activities. This website began development in June, 2012 and represents their first step to educate, inform and advise online users, law enforcement, court systems and communities on the dangers lurking in cyberspace. Chief Executive Officer & founder of iPredator Inc, Michael Nuccitelli Psy.D., C.F.C. is a New York State licensed psychologist and certified forensic consultant.

In 2006, Dr. Nuccitelli formulated Dark Psychology, which explores the criminal, destructive and deviant drives in humanity. In 2009, he developed the Information Age psychological construct, iPredator that delves into the minds of those who use Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for nefarious and malevolent reasons. As contemporary society adapts to new paradigms presented in the Information Age, the frameworks of iPredator, Dark Psychology, and his recent theoretical addition, iPredator Bridge, will remain relevant postulates for decades to follow. Provided below are brief definitions of these constructs and are central to all iPredator Inc. strategies and tactics.

DARK PSYCHOLOGY: CRIMINAL, DEVIANT & CYBER CRIMINAL MINDS 

Dark Psychology is the study of the human condition as it relates to the psychological nature of people to prey upon other people motivated by criminal and/or deviant drives that lack purpose and general assumptions of instinctual drives and social sciences theory. All of humanity has the potentiality to victimize humans and other living creatures. While many restrain or sublimate this tendency, some act upon these impulses.

Dark Psychology seeks to understand those thoughts, feelings, perceptions and subjective processing systems that lead to predatory behavior that is antithetical to contemporary understandings of human behavior. Dark Psychology assumes that criminal, deviant and abusive behaviors are purposive and have some rational, goal-oriented motivation 99% of the time. It is the remaining 1%, Dark Psychology parts from Adlerian theory and the Teleological Approach. Dark Psychology postulates there is a region within the human psyche that enables some people to commit atrocious acts without purpose. In this theory, it has been coined the Dark Singularity.

Dark Psychology posits that all humans have a reservoir of malevolent intent towards others ranging from minimally obtrusive and fleeting thoughts to pure psychopathic deviant behaviors without any cohesive rationality. This is called the Dark Continuum. Mitigating factors acting as accelerants and/or attractants to approaching the Dark Singularity, and where a person’s heinous actions fall on the Dark Continuum, is what Dark Psychology calls Dark Factor.

Dark Psychology encompasses all that makes us who we are in relationship to our dark side. All cultures, all faiths and all humanity have this proverbial cancer. From the moment we are born to the time of death, there is a side hidden within us that some have called evil and others have defined as criminal, deviant or psychopathic. Dark Psychology introduces a third philosophical construct that views these behaviors different from religious dogmas and contemporary social science theories.

“It is the individual who is not interested in his fellow men who has the greatest difficulties in life and provides the greatest injury to others. It is from among such individuals that all human failures spring.” Alfred Adler (1870–1937)

Dark Psychology assumes there are people who commit these same acts and do so not for power, money, sex, retribution or any other known purpose. They commit horrid acts without a goal. Simplified, their ends do not justify their means. There are people who violate and injure others for the sake of doing so. Within in all of us is this potential. A potential to harm others without cause, explanation, or purpose is the area Dr. Nuccitelli explores. Dark Psychology assumes this dark potential is incredibly complex and even more difficult to define.

Dark Psychology posits we all have the capacity for predator behaviors and this potential has access to our thoughts, feelings and perceptions. We all have this potential, but only a few of us acts upon them. All of us have had thoughts and feelings at one time or another of wanting to behave in a brutal manner. We all have had thoughts of wanting to hurt others severely without mercy. If you are honest with yourself, you will have to agree we all have had thoughts and feeling of wanting to commit heinous acts. Dark Psychology attempts to examine these intrapsychic chasms of darkness.

“Dark Psychology is both the study of criminal and deviant behavior and a conceptual framework for deciphering the potential for evil within all human beings.” Michael Nuccitelli Psy.D., C.F.C. (2009)

IPREDATORS TARGET THE INTERNET SAFETY IGNORANT

iPredator: A child, adult, group or nation who, directly or indirectly, engages in exploitation, victimization, stalking, theft or disparagement of others using Information and Communications Technology (ICT.) iPredators are driven by deviant fantasies, desires for power and control, retribution, religious fanaticism, political reprisal, psychiatric illness, perceptual distortions, peer acceptance or personal and financial gain. iPredators can be any age, either gender and not bound by economic status, race or national heritage.

iPredator is a global term used to distinguish anyone who engages in criminal, deviant or abusive behaviors using Information and Communications Technology (ICT.) Whether the offender is a cyberbully, cyberstalker, cyber harasser, cyber criminal, online sexual predator, internet troll or cyber terrorist, they fall within the scope of iPredator. The three criteria used to define an iPredator include:

1. A self-awareness of causing harm to others, directly or indirectly, using ICT. II. The intermittent to frequent usage of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to obtain, exchange and deliver harmful information. III. A general understanding of Cyberstealth used to engage in criminal or deviant activities or to profile, identify, locate, stalk and engage a target.

Unlike human predators prior to the Information Age, iPredators rely on the multitude of benefits offered by Information and Communications Technology (ICT.) These assistances include exchange of information over long distances, rapidity of information exchanged and the seemingly infinite access to data available. Malevolent in intent, iPredators rely on their capacity to deceive others using Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in an abstract electronic universe.

Although it is assumed all humanity, has residing deep in their psyche, the potential & Dark Psychology for behaving in harmful and malevolent ways they rarely or never activate, ICT and cyberspace offers a direct connection and psychological route to the dark side. Just as ICT and cyberspace is incredibly pro-social and beneficial to humanity, these same technological advancements can lead humanity to diabolical and sinister endeavors.

IPREDATOR BRIDGE: CYBER AGGRESSION MOTIVATED BY SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS 

iPredator Bridge: iPredator Bridge is a theoretical tenet of iPredator representing the psychological, perceptual and behavioral trajectory of people who use Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to harm others. Similar to the iPredator, they are motivated by personal convictions, greed, power, control, narcissism or psychopathology. Different from the iPredator, they have yet to fully engage in criminal/deviant activities using ICT or use complex perceptual distortions to validate the harm they cause. Also different from iPredator are their drives for attacking others.

For those defined in iPredator Bridge, their motivations are cloaked by moral turpitude, self-righteousness and justified convictions. iPredator Bridge investigates why some people draw near to this nefarious and malevolent realm, and either proceed in their maladaptive trajectory, or cease and desist.

Within this new region, and presently without explanation, many people enter cyberspace and access ICT with their instinctual drive for self-preservation remaining dormant. Conversely, other people either quickly or gradually, conclude that ICT and cyberspace offers an environment that allows the pursuit of maladaptive and psychopathological goals undeterred by punishment. It is within this process that the ICT user or groups of ICT users transcend into the world of iPredator. Once an iPredator, the various typologies begin their search for those they deem as vulnerable, easily accosted and not likely to mobilize the required forces leading to their apprehension and punishment.

The iPredator Bridge is a symbolic representation of the approach, route and initial crossing into the realm of the iPredator. In a rudimentary and abstract way, it is posited that cyberspace, ICT and all future technological advancements, related to information technology, is an extension of the mind and the instinctual drives of the collective brain to replicate itself outside a human organism. Related to this postulate are the theoretical tenets of Carl Jung (1875-1961) and his construct of the Collective Unconscious.

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Given that humanity is at the beginning of the Information Age, the motivating factors that lead some people to cross over into engaging in asocial behaviors using ICT cannot be explained. The concept of iPredator and iPredator Bridge construct assumes that ICT has unknown effects upon the mind and influence some to engage in destructive and self-destructive patterns. The creation of ICT and cyberspace is equivalent to the philosophical and psychological societal awe that was created when an astronaut took his first step upon the moon. Just as Neil Armstrong (8/5/30 – 8/25/12) stepped into a new celestial territory, humanity is doing the same here on Earth. This new territory is the abstract and artificial electronic universe known as cyberspace.

ICT and the Information Age have created a new dimension leading to an entirely new population of humanity engaged in malevolent, harmful and deceptive practices. ICT and cyberspace are not tools used by the sociopath, deviant, narcissist or classic criminal, but part of a new generation that will be permanent fixtures to humanity for centuries to follow.

IPREDATOR TYPOLOGIES

CYBER STALKING

Cyberstalking: Cyberstalking is defined as the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to stalk, control, manipulate, threaten or make unwanted advances towards a child, adult, business or group. Cyberstalking is both a tactic used by an ICT assailant and typology of pathological ICT user. Cyberstalking tactics include false accusations, threats of harm, habitual monitoring, surveillance, implied threats, identity theft, damage to property and gathering information to manipulate and control their target. To meet the criteria of Cyberstalking, the information and tactics used must involve a credible or implied physical and psychological threat to the target. An example of physical threat involves bodily harm to the target or their loved ones via ICT.

Examples of psychological threats involves disparagement, humiliation, dis-information dissemination and environmental damage to the target’s reputation, credibility or financial status if the target does not acquiesce to the cyberstalker’s demands. The Internet is a global medium regardless of frontiers, and this creates new possibilities for the growing class of cyberstalkers. Given the Internet is inexpensive and easy to access, distance between cyber stalkers and their targets are no longer a confounding factor. Cyberstalking is both a strategy to target other ICT users and a psychiatric pathology. When Cyberstalking is a tactic, the assailant does not need to be motivated by psychiatric illness.

CYBER HARASSMENT

Cyber Harassment: Cyber harassment is defined as the use of information and communications technology (ICT) to harass, control, manipulate or habitually disparage a child, adult, business or group without a credible or implied threat of harm. Unlike physical harassment requiring physical contact, cyber harassment occurs in cyberspace using ICT and is verbal, emotional or social abuse of a person based on their race, gender, religion, socio-economic status, physical attributes, sexual orientation or beliefs. Cyber harassment is a tactic used by an ICT assailant that may or may not be rooted in an attempt to control, dominate or manipulate their target.

Although cyber harassment pertains to unrelenting taunting and disparaging information directed at a child, adult, public figure, group or business using ICT, the motivations of the assailant may be rooted in their own pathological drives and motivations. Cyber harassment differs from Cyberstalking in that it is generally does not not involve a credible or implied physical threat. Harassment does not include constitutionally protected activity or conduct that serves a legitimate purpose. In a rapidly expanding digital world, an ICT user’s privacy and reputation becomes more vulnerable to corruption. As anonymity via the Internet becomes more feasible, cyber harassment continues to flourish. Cyber harassment is the adult form of cyberbullying to a minor.

CYBERBULLYING

Cyberbullying: Cyberbullying is defined as threatening or disparaging information directed at a target child delivered through information and communications technology (ICT.) Like classic bullying, cyberbullying is harmful, repeated and hostile behavior intended to taunt, embarrass, deprecate & defame a targeted child. Dissimilar to classic bullying, cyber bullying includes a phenomenon called Cyberbullying by proxy. Cyberbullying by proxy is when a cyber bully encourages or persuades other ICT users to engage in deprecating and harassing a target child. Cyberbullying by proxy is a dangerous form of cyber bullying because adults may become accomplices to the cyber bully and may not know they are dealing with a minor or child from their community.

Cyberbullies are usually motivated by a need for peer acceptance and/or power and control. A small percentage of cyberbullies engage in these maladaptive behaviors out of ignorance of the distress they cause a target child. The most malevolent form of cyberbully, feels minimal remorse for the harm they are inflicting upon the target child. It has been speculated that children view the real world and the online or virtual world as part of a seamless continuum. Unable to differentiate reality from virtual reality, victims of cyberbullying can become psychologically devastated and/or cyberbullies themselves.

CYBERCRIME

Cybercrime: Cybercrime is defined as crimes and criminal activity committed on the Internet using Information and Communications Technology as the tools to target victims. All forms of cybercrime involve both Information and Communications Technology and a targeted victim(s). Cybercrime is segmented into two distinct categories involving the focus of the cyber criminal activities. These activities are focalized on the technology of ICT to achieve the cyber criminal’s aims for personal and financial gain or targeted at the person using the Information and Communications Technology. When the individual is the main target of cybercrime, ICT is the tool rather than the target. These are the crimes, which have existed for centuries in offline societies.

Scams, Theft and Fraud have existed long before the development of information technology. Cyber criminals utilize technological tools that increase their potential pool of victims and make them difficult to identify and apprehend. Cybercrime targets people, property or governments using Information and Communications Technology.

CYBER TERRORISM

Cyber Terrorism: Cyber Terrorism is defined as the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) by iPredators, organized groups and/or terrorist groups to advance their agenda motivated by religious, political and/or philosophical ideologies. Examples of cyber terrorism include 1. The use of ICT to organize and execute attacks against networks, and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructures. 2. The exchanging of information or making threats electronically. 3. The act of hacking into computer systems. 4. Introducing viruses and malware to vulnerable networks. 5. Defacement of websites and blogs. 6. Denial-of-service attacks 7. Terrorist threats made via electronic communication.

When strategic cyber attacks are motivated for financial gain, these attacks are defined as cybercrime. Cyber terrorism is any premeditated, politically, religious or philosophically motivated attack against information, computer systems, computer programs and data, which results in violence against non-combatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents. A cyber terrorist attack is designed to cause physical violence or extreme financial harm to the targeted victims or community.

According to the U.S. Commission of Critical Infrastructure Protection, cyber terrorist targets include the banking industry, military installations, power plants, air traffic control centers and water systems. The F.B.I. define cyber terrorism as “The premeditated, politically motivated attack against information, computer systems, computer programs and data which result in violence against noncombatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents.”

ONLINE PREDATION

Online Predation: The typology of iPredator that is categorized as Online Predators have a variety of different terms used to describe the same patterns and motivations for their abuse. Online Predators are defined as adult online users who seek to exploit vulnerable children or adolescents for sexual and other abusive purposes. Online Predators are sexual predators who use Information and Communications Technology and the Internet to locate, target and victimize minors. Common forums used by Online Predators to target children include chat rooms, instant messaging or social networking sites for the purpose of flirting with and meeting others for illicit sexual experiences.

Online Predators are motivated to manipulate or “groom” a minor with the ultimate goal of meeting and engaging in sexual activity, despite knowing they are engaging in illegal activities. In instances where meeting their victims is not the primary objective, Online Predators also attempt to persuade children and adolescents to participate in some form of online sexual and/or sexually provocative activity motivated by financial gain engaging in the distribution and sale of child pornography.

“The study, exploration and understanding of iPredator are the first steps in the humanization of global Information and Communications Technology. By understanding iPredator, humanity walks safely in cyberspace.” Michael Nuccitelli Psy.D., C.F.C. (2012)

CYBERSTEALTH

Cyberstealth is a concept formulated along with iPredator and is a term used to define a method and/or strategy by which iPredators use Information and Communications Technology (ICT) , if they so choose, to establish and sustain complete anonymity while they troll and stalk a target. Cyberstealth is a methodology entrenched in Information Age Deception or also called cyber deception. Given the Internet inherently affords everyone anonymity, Cyberstealth used by iPredators range from negligible to highly complex and multi-faceted.

The rationale for using “stealth” in the suffix of this term, serves to remind ICT users the primary intent fueling iPredators. This intent is to hide their identity by designing false online profiles, identities, covert tactics and methods to ensure their identities remain concealed reducing their probability of identification, apprehension and punishment.

Unlike classic deception used by traditional criminals and deviants, Information Age Deception completely relies on the anonymity and “veil of invisibility” available to all ICT users. The primary difference between Information Age Deception and Cyberstealth are the activities iPredators and ICT users engage in. In this writer’s construct, Cyberstealth is reserved for iPredators who actively plan a strategy that have criminal, deviant and harmful implications to targeted victims.

Information Age Deception includes all forms of Cyberstealth, but also includes deceptive practices that do not have elements of crime, defiance or harm against others. An example of Information Age Deception, not included in Cyberstealth, would be a young man who joins an online dating service and publishes in his dating profile that he if 6’0 feet tall when he is really 5’9.

Information Age Deception does not require an ICT user to engage in nefarious, deviant or malevolent activities. Although all forms of deception are problematic, Information Age Deception can be as subtle of what many call a “white lie.” Another difference is when iPredators use Cyberstealth to hide their identity from victims. In general, iPredators use Cyberstealth when their actions involve illegal activities and hiding their identity is paramount to reduce being identified, apprehended and prosecuted. ICT users who evaluate their odds of being identified, develop tactics and strategies to minimize identification are motivated by criminal, deviant & harmful causes are iPredators using Cyberstealth.

As the Internet naturally offers all ICT users anonymity if they decide, iPredators actively design online profiles and diversionary tactics to remain undetected and untraceable. Cyberstealth is a covert method by which iPredators are able to establish and sustain complete anonymity while they engage in ICT activities planning their next assault, investigating innovative surveillance technologies or researching the social profiles of their next target. Concurrent with the concept of Cyberstealth is IVI or iPredator Victim Intuition. By using Cyberstealth, an iPredator’s IVI is the aptitude to sense a target’s online vulnerabilities, weaknesses and technological limitations increasing their success with minimal ramifications.

iPredators rely on the multitude of benefits offered by ICT. These assistances include exchange of information over long distances, rapidity of information exchanged and the seemingly infinite access to data available. Malevolent in intent, iPredators rely on their capacity to deceive others in the abstract electronic universe known as cyberspace.

The iPredator practices Cyberstealth using multiple covert strategies. In fact, the third criteria used to define an iPredator includes a general understanding of Cyberstealth used to engage in criminal or deviant acts or to profile, identify, locate, stalk and engage a target. Also lying upon a continuum of expertise, iPredators are assessed as being advanced in their Cyberstealth practices as opposed to a haphazard approach of targeting a victim without attempting to hide their identity.

Often times, cyber bullies, ex-partners, ex-employees, angry or self-righteous online users, Internet trolls, organized groups with political, religious, moralistic causes, child molesters, pedophiles and highly narcissistic online users do not attempt to hide their identities. Cyberstealth is a strategy reserved for iPredators who seek to hide their identities online.

As stated above, Cyberstealth is a concept formulated along with iPredator used to define a method and/or strategies by which iPredators devise tactics to establish and sustain complete anonymity while they troll and stalk an online target. In addition to a stratagem, Cyberstealth is a reality of ICT that humanity often fails to fathom leading some ICT users to become high probability targets. Cyberstealth is a learned behavior that becomes more advanced with practice, trial and error and experimentation.

For some iPredators, they seek the advice and consultation of other iPredators to hone their skills. In the realm of nefarious motivated “hacking,” some iPredators actively seek the insight from other hackers to advance their knowledge base. Although “hackers” tend to be considered by the general mainstream as villainous, there are two distinct groups defined by their motivations. “Black Hat Hackers” engage in nefarious and malevolent online activities. “White Hat Hackers” are ICT security experts.

“Given the Internet and ICT inherently affords everyone’s anonymity, Cyberstealth used by iPredators range from negligible to highly complex and multi-faceted.” Michael Nuccitelli, Psy.D. (2011)

iPredator is a global concept that includes children, adults and organized groups who directly or indirectly use ICT to harm or exploit others. The goal of the United States and all industrialized nations is to stop the growth of iPredators by educating its citizens on their tactics and strategies. From a profiling and investigation standpoint, assessment of an iPredator’s Cyberstealth tactics and Digital Footprint can assist authorities in their profiling, identification and apprehension. Just as classic criminal profiles have signatures used to apprehend them, iPredators have digital signatures as well.

The importance of ICT and the Internet to humankind is different to everyone and as unique as a fingerprint. For some, ICT and the Internet are nothing more than tools of convenience for conducting mundane tasks. For others, their social, scholastic, business and/or financial affairs disclosed online are crucial to their life functioning, self-esteem, self-worth, success and perceptual world.

As ICT, social media, virtual reality and the Information Age rapidly expands becoming integral to humanities daily activities, understanding the basic tenets of these new dimensions are preponderant. In 2011, the Internet celebrated its 20th birthday. In 2013, most of humanity continues to fail in understanding the golden rule of all new territory exploration. What always comes with opportunity and new frontiers are elements unknown and potentially dangerous. It is these unknown and dangerous elements, lurking within cyberspace, which ICT users and their loved ones must be vigilant about.

Technological advancements have changed the way humanity interacts, exchanges and accesses information. Smartphones, mobile devices and social media are the latest in a succession of advancements growing at a feverish pace. It is often difficult to imagine that the Internet used by more than two billion people globally celebrated its 20th birthday in 2011. Clearly, the Information Age has spread to all corners of the planet.

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“As society becomes more technologically advanced, the importance of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) becomes vital in the daily living of humanity. Despite the multitude of benefits, the dangers lurking in cyberspace are real, growing and need to be stopped. It may take me 30-40 years, but iPredator Inc. will diligently persist until one day online sexual predators, cyberstalkers and all iPredators experience fear before they proceed with their nefarious, deviant & malevolent plans.” Michael Nuccitelli Psy.D., C.F.C., iPredator Inc. (2013)

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Internet Safety Education & Tech. Predator Investigation

iPredator Inc. was founded in September 2011 to provide educational and advisory products & services to consumers and organizations on Cyber Bullying, Cyber Harassment, Cyber Stalking, Cyber Crime, Internet Defamation, Cyber Terrorism, Online Sexual Predation and the new field they are developing termed, Information Age Psychology. Created by a NYS licensed psychologist and certified forensic consultant, Michael Nuccitelli Psy.D., their goal is to reduce victimization, theft and disparagement from online assailants.

In addition to assisting citizens, iPredator’s mission is to initiate a national educational & awareness campaign with the help of private, state, and federal agencies. iPredator’s criminal psychology & forensics blog can be viewed at www.DarkPsychology.co. Although iPredator has joined a multitude of social networking sites, feel free to visit their social sites planned to be their major information and announcement vehicles.

• Facebook: The iPredator
• Google +: The iPredator
• Linked In: iPredator
• Twitter: TheiPredator
• YouTube: iPredator Team

For online users seeking Internet and cyber-attack protection, feel free to read about their innovative advisory-based membership service called, iPredator Protected. With the growth and expansion of social media, Dr. Nuccitelli and iPredator offer a unique assessment service called the iPredator Facebook Safety Analysis.

In addition to offering advice, education and investigation, Dr. Nuccitelli has designed 13 checklists (IISC Collection) that can be taken online and 26 checklists and inventories (IISC & IPI Collection) that can be purchased. All of Dr. Nuccitelli’s checklists and inventories were designed for assessment, education and prevention education (IISC & IPI Collection Overview.) To reach Dr. Nuccitelli, you can email him at drnucc@ipredatorinc.com  or via phone at (347) 871-2416.

by Michael Nuccitelli, Psy.D.

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