Online Predators

Online Predators Education & Online Sexual Predator Education

Welcome to iPredator Inc.’s online predators prevention, education & information page. Online Sexual Predation is one typology included in the concept of iPredator, which is a theoretical construct developed by New York State licensed psychologist and certified forensic consultant, Dr. Michael Nuccitelli.

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 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. The definition and motivations of iPredator, Online Sexual Predation and Cyberstealth 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.

Online Predators: The typology of iPredator that is categorized in Online Predators has 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 or 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 minors for illicit sexual experiences. Online Predators often 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 to engage in sexual activities 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 sexual deviance and/or for financial gain engaging in the distribution and sale of child pornography.

Online sexual predation is one category of iPredator that will continue to grow with the expansion of Information and Communications Technology. Feel free to visit the iPredator Inc. Resource Links & Library filled with an enormous amount of information compiled by Dr. Nuccitelli and his colleagues. Related to Online Sexual Predators, Dr. Nuccitelli has developed the Online Predator Prevention Checklist (OPPC) that can be taken online. The Online Predator Prevention Checklist (OPPC) and iPredator Probability Inventory – Internet Predator (IPI-IP) can also be purchased. As website content continues to be added, please visit the site for additions to the Resource Links & Library and articles authored by Dr. Nuccitelli and iPredator Team members.

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 Predators and the new field they are developing termed, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Psychology. Created by a NYS licensed psychologist and certified forensic consultant, Dr. Michael Nuccitelli, their goal is to reduce victimization, theft and disparagement from online assailants.

In addition to assisting citizens, iPredator Inc.’s mission is to initiate a national educational & awareness campaign with the help of private, state, and federal agencies. Dr. Nuccitelli can be reached at DrNucc@iPredatorInc.com. iPredator Inc.’s criminal psychology & forensics blog can be viewed at www.DarkPsychology.co and their website, www.iPredator.co, offers site visitors an enormous database on Cyber Criminal Psychology, Internet Safety and iPredators. Although iPredator Inc. 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 iPredator Inc.’s innovative advisory based membership service called, iPredator Protected. With the growth and expansion of social media, Dr. Nuccitelli and iPredator Inc. offers a unique assessment service called the iPredator Facebook Safety Analysis

In addition to offering advice, education and investigation, Dr. Nuccitelli has designed 13 internet safety & cyber attack risk prevention checklists (IISC-ABR) that are abridged and inexpensive to purchase. The full version internet safety tools, 26 checklists and inventories (IISC & IPI Collection) can be purchased and include the full scoring keys, internet safety factors and scoring categories. All of Dr. Nuccitelli’s checklists and inventories were designed for assessment, education and prevention education (IISC & IPI Collection Overview.)

by Michael Nuccitelli, Psy.D.

Google