DR. MICHAEL NUCCITELLI

New York State Licensed Psychologist & Certified Forensic Consultant

Dr. Michael Nuccitelli is a New York State licensed psychologist and certified forensic consultant. He completed his doctoral degree in clinical psychology in 1994 from the Adler School of Professional Psychology in Chicago, Illinois. In 1997, Dr. Nuccitelli became a licensed psychologist in New York State (License # 013009.) In 2006, he received the Certified Forensic Consultant designation from the American College of Forensic Examiners (Identification # 103110.) As author of the theoretical construct termed iPredator, Dr. Michael Nuccitelli is a Cyberbullying, Internet Safety, Cybercrime, Online Predator and Forensic Psychology Educator & Investigator.

In September 2011, Dr. Nuccitelli established iPredator Inc. offering the private & public sectors educational and advisory services regarding internet predators, cybercrime & digital forensic psychology. In June 2012, Dr. Nuccitelli and iPredator launched this website offering site visitors an incredible amount of information, education, cyber attack risk assessments and advisory services on Internet Safety, Dangers of the Internet, Criminal & Forensic Psychology and his new theoretical construct he has termed iPredator. Concurrent with the iPredator website, Dr. Nuccitelli also regularly updates their Forensic & Criminal Psychology Blog, Dark Psychology, and their Internet Safety Blog, Dr. Internet Safety.

Over the last 25 years, Dr. Nuccitelli has worked in the mental health field in a variety of capacities with various clinical populations. Concurrent with his employment in mental health, Dr. Nuccitelli was a practicing psychologist for 10 years and worked in the field of forensic psychology conducting evaluations and consultation to attorneys and court systems. Dr. Nuccitelli has extensive career and academic experiences. His areas of expertise include forensic & criminal psychology, digital forensic psychology, psychiatric & psychological disorders and developmental psychology. He is an avid follower of national & criminal news and enjoys educating the public by interacting with the media.

Cyberbullying – Cybercrime – Online Predation

Dr. Nuccitelli became interested in the psychology and profiling of those who use Information and Communications Technology to abuse, steal, taunt and victimize others online in 2009. In 2012, Dr. Nuccitelli and his colleagues grew even more determined to develop victimization prevention & intervention strategies for vulnerable online users. Within their professional network, iPredator Inc. has contact with education, investigation, legal, law enforcement and information technology experts.

At the center of iPredator’s products, services and corporate mission is Dr. Nuccitelli’s theoretical construct, iPredator. Over the last 4 years, Dr. Nuccitelli has dedicated himself to learning the psychological composition of those who are engaged in malevolent activities online. The definitions of his three technological predator constructs are as follows:

IPREDATOR, IPREDATOR BRIDGE & CYBERSTEALTH

“The repercussions of the unrestricted latitude of iPredators will be catastrophic for not only the individual, but for society, and potentially, the world over. Therefore, before it is too late, we must re-examine the phenomenon of “social networking” via technology.“ Michael Nuccitelli Psy.D., (2012)

IPREDATOR

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:

I. 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.

IPREDATOR BRIDGE

iPredator Bridge: iPredator Bridge is a theoretical tenet of iPredator representing the psychological, perceptual & 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 pseudo-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.

Bridge is a theoretical tenet of iPredator representing the psychological, perceptual & 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. 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.

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.

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.

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. 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.

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.

“Society is being lulled into a false sense of trust and reliance on technology, taking information and “connection” to others in cyberspace at face value. Like the child in the fairy tale, Little Red Riding Hood, innocently wandering through the forest, we erroneously believe that the “Wolf” is whoever he appears or claims to be. Just as Little Red Riding Hood, we’re in danger of falling prey to iPredator.” Michael Nuccitelli Psy.D., (2012)

Over the last four years, Dr. Nuccitelli has compiled an enormous database leading to iPredator’s resource library available at no charge to all site visitors. Having reviewed and compiled these links, websites and research, he went on to develop 26 checklists and inventories (IPI & IISC Collection) in which, 13 checklist assessments (IISC Collection) are available to consumers in an abridged version and inexpensive. These inventories and checklists are risk probability assessments designed for parents, businesses, educators, healthcare professionals, teens, adults and public figures investigating issues related to cyberbullying, cybserstalking, cybercrime, sexual predators, digital reputation and various other categories of potential cyber attacks and online assailants.

Internet Safety & Information Age Forensics

Concurrent with these assessments, Dr. Nuccitelli developed a unique advisory-based membership service, iPredator Protected, on the appropriate strategies for prevention, intervention, investigation and guidance if a member is targeted by an iPredator. iPredator Inc. services include training, educational seminars, phone consultations, advisory services and ICT Forensic Psychology services for law enforcement, attorneys and court systems. Dr. Nuccitelli and his colleagues also offer training on Internet Psychology, Internet Culture, Cyber Criminal Psychology and Forensic Psychology.

At present, Dr. Nuccitelli consults with the American College of Forensic Examiners (ACFEI) with access to their expert members. ACFEI is the largest forensic certification and educational professional organization in the country with 15,000 members and forensic experts. In addition to their kind gesture of publishing his theory in their 2011 winter issue of The Forensic Examiner, they have offered Dr. Nuccitelli to design and develop an iPredator training and certification program for new and existing ACFEI members.

Forensic Psychology

Dr. Nuccitelli consults with regional and national attorneys, law enforcement, Internet security experts and criminal investigators. As information technology continues to expand, law enforcement, the legal system, community organizations and national activist organizations support Dr. Nuccitelli, iPredator Inc., their mission and educational endeavors.

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by Michael Nuccitelli, Psy.D.

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