Internet Safety

Internet Safety, Cyber Security & Online Victim Dynamics

Internet Safety & cyber security is vital to all online users and below is a list of factors sought by iPredators searching for their next target. Just as classic criminals can “case” a home or choose the most vulnerable child to abduct, the iPredator is able to do the same using information they compile from a variety of online sources and contacts. Based on the typology of iPredator, the areas they investigate in their strategy of targeting a victim is listed below for the reader. Here at the iPredator Inc. Internet Safety Page, Dr. Nuccitelli and his colleagues will post their Internet safety and cyber security articles.

The typologies of iPredator include: Cyber Bullying, Cyber Harassment, Cyber Stalking, Cyber Crime, Online Sexual Predation and Cyber Terrorism. Within this construct, Cyber Harassment is the adult form of Cyber Bullying and used when the perpetrator is an adult.

As Information and Communications Technology (ICT) becomes more widespread, cyber attack prevention, education and protection are areas requiring immediate attention. The Information Age has many benefits to humanity, but it is vital to identify and prevent the malevolent and nefarious elements that exist in cyberspace and Information and Communications Technology. The definition and motivations of iPredator and Internet Safety Victim Dynamics is as follows:

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. 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 all online users who engage in criminal, deviant or abusive behaviors using ICT. Whether the offender is a cyber bully, cyber stalker, cyber criminal, online sexual predator, Internet troll or cyber terrorist, they fall within the scope of iPredator. There are three criteria used to define an iPredator including:

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

When an offender profile includes these three characteristics, they meet the definition of iPredator. A fourth criterion, not included in the triad defining an iPredator, is what I have termed iPredator Victim Intuition (IVI) and reserved for seasoned iPredators. IVI is the aptitude to sense a target’s online vulnerabilities, weaknesses and technological limitations increasing their success with minimal ramifications. iPredators, through practice and learning, develop a sense and/or skill of being able to experience an intuition to know what online user will be a successful target.

In addition to having IVI, the iPredator practices Cyberstealth using multiple covert strategies. In fact, the third criteria used to define an iPredator include a general understanding of Cyberstealth used 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 and 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.

Cyberstealth, a concept formulated along with iPredator, is a term 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 Information and Communications Technology, that humanity often fails to fathom leading some online users to become high probability targets. Cyberstealth is a learned behavior that becomes more advanced with practice, trial and error and experimentation. Methods iPredators use in their Cyberstealth strategies are as follows:

1. The amount of personal information a potential target post or shares online.
2. The frequency a potential target post or shares their contact information online.
3. The content of the information a potential target post or shares online.
4. The lack of Internet safety measures a potential target institutes online.
5. The potential targets willingness to discuss sensitive issues including sexual topics, financial information, their physical location, parental or adult monitoring of their online activities, experiences of distress at home, work, school and interpersonal or intrapersonal issues.
6. The amount of time the potential target spends online.
7. The type of information a potential target post or shares on their social networking profiles (i.e. Facebook, MySpace, MyYearbook, LinkedIn.)
8. The potential target’s offline demeanor leading the iPredator to conclude the online user will be an easy target.
9. The non-response or lack of assertive confrontation by a potential target to respond to negative information.
10. The potential target’s probability of not having social system support, legal/law enforcement support or knowledge of intervention strategies if cyber attacked.
11. The quantity and themes of images and/or videos an online user posts or shares online.
12. The pattern of “likes” and “dislikes” an online user posts or shares on their social networking site profiles.
13. The frequency a potential target changes their profile images and information on their social networking profiles.
14. Images and/or videos showing the potential target’s economic status, the layout of their residence or their material objects they or their loved ones own.
15. Images, videos and posts of the potential target’s choice of lifestyle and/or material objects.
16. Images, videos and posts of the potential target’s lifestyle.
17. Images, videos and posts of the potential target’s needs, wants and desires.
18. Images, videos and posts suggesting the potential target is suffering from psychological and/or psychosocial dysfunction.

Although there are other factors an iPredator uses in their repertoire of exhibiting IVI, the eighteen factors listed are recommended to evaluate by all online users to reduce their chances of becoming an iPredator target. Not included in these factors and apply to all online users is the unfortunate reality of being targeted by an iPredator as part of a mass trolling scheme. This occurs most often in cybercrime when the potential target receives an email asking them to open an attachment or gulled into providing personal information. This cybercrime and cyberbullying tactic is called “Phishing.”

“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)

INTERNET SAFETY CHECKLIST-ABR SITE LINKS

(All Authored by Dr. Nuccitelli)

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.

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.

“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 CHECKLIST & INVENTORY SITE LINKS

(All Authored by Dr. Nuccitelli)

The Information Age is a societal paradigm and period beginning in the last quarter of the 20th century and presently thriving in the second decade of the 21st century. The Information Age represents the evolution, emergence, consumption of and reliance upon Information and Communications Technology (ICT). In a mere four decades, ICT and its importance to humanity have led many to surmise that the planet and its human inhabitants are amidst an Information Revolution. Mobile device technology, telecommunications, social media & cyberspace are just a few examples of humanities newest communication channels. In all of these arenas, they deal with the new frontier of how humankind obtains exchanges and disseminates information.

Information and Communications Technology (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 classic sociopath, deviant, narcissist or criminal, but a new generation called iPredators. These Information Age assailants will be permanent fixtures to humanity for centuries to follow. In order to effectively educate, evaluate, investigate or advise any ICT user on Internet safety, whether they are a child, adult, group or business, it is paramount to grasp the basic concepts and terms vital to all ICT users. The two terms important to be familiar with are iPredator & Cyberstealth. For it is in cyberspace & the internet, using ICT, that vast majority of iPredators develop, activate and institute Cyberstealth.

Join Dr. Nuccitelli & iPredator inc. in their Google + communities. No personal information required or having to sign up. Just read, post and share cyber criminal, criminal, forensic & ipredator information in either of their communities.

Google + iPredator Community: https://plus.google.com/communities/116267329212801720338

Google + Dark Psychology Community https://plus.google.com/communities/102609896572601482722

IPREDATOR INC. UNIQUE SERVICES

iPredator Protected Membership: http://www.ipredator.co/product/ipredator-protected-membership/

Social Media Safety Assessment: http://www.ipredator.co/product/social-media-safety/

iPredator Inc. Professional Services: http://www.ipredator.co/services/

IPREDATOR INC.

iPredator Inc. is a New York State based Information Age Forensics company founded in September 2011 to provide educational and advisory products & services to consumers and organizations on cyberbullying, cyber harassment, cyberstalking, cybercrime, internet defamation, cyber terrorism, online sexual predation and the new field the founder is pioneering he has 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, their mission is to initiate a national sustained educational & awareness campaign with the help of private, state and federal agencies. Dr. Nuccitelli and iPredator Inc. colleagues and associates regular update their criminal psychology, cybercrime & forensics blog, called Dark Psychology and their Internet Safety & Information Age Predator blog called Dr. Internet Safety. The parent website, iPredator.co (a.k.a. www.iPredatorInc.com), offers site visitors an enormous database on Cyber Criminal Psychology, Internet Safety and Information Age Predators.

For online users interested in learning more about Dark Psychology & iPredator outside the website or forensic & internet safety blogs, please visit their iPredator & Dark Psychology Google + Community pages and all are welcomed to contribute. Although iPredator Inc. has joined a multitude of social networking sites, feel free to visit the social sites listed below they use as their information and announcement vehicles. Dr. Nuccitelli and iPredator Inc. consultants are always available, at no cost, to interact with media. To invite Dr. Nuccitelli to conduct training, educational service or consultation, please email him at drnucc@ipredatorinc.com or via phone at 347-871-2416.

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

“In nature, wild animals stalk and measure their prey using stealth and tactical strategies increasing their probability of success while decreasing potential for injury. iPredators also use stealth, Cyberstealth, to stalk online users increasing the probability of achieving their aims, while decreasing their potential of identification and punishment.” Michael Nuccitelli Psy.D., (2012)

American College of Forensic Examiners Institute announces commitment to iPredator forensic education.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/robertoblock/ipredator/prweb10120698.htm