One of the most frequently used platforms to contact kids is social media chatrooms, through which abuse may happen both online and offline. Predators are increasingly leveraging technological advancements to commit sexual abuse with the aid of technology.
Once a predator has succeeded in getting access to a child’s webcam, the content is then used to record, produce and distribute child pornography.
Chatbots: How was the Study Conducted
A team of criminologists, studying cybercrime and cybersecurity, conducted research to investigate the methodologies used by online predators to hack children’s webcams.
For this, the researchers posed as children (potential victims) to assess the movements of online predators. They started by creating several automated chatbots to lure online predators in some of the chatrooms popular among children.
The bots are programmed in a way that they would not initiate any conversation and will respond only to users who are above 18 years of age.
Furthermore, they are programmed to start each conversation by mentioning their age, sex, and location. This was done to ensure that the conversations documented were with individuals over the age of 18 who were knowingly and voluntarily conversing with a minor. It is standard procedure in chatroom culture. Although it is likely that some of those involved were minors impersonating adults, a prior study has shown that online predators tend to portray themselves as younger rather than older, not the other way around.
Methods of Attack
The chatbots recorded 953 chats with self-identified adults who claimed to be adults who were told they were conversing with a 13-year-old girl. The chats were almost exclusively sexual in nature, with a focus on webcams. Some predators made their demands clear and offered to pay for films of the child performing sexual acts right away. Others made an attempt to solicit videos by making promises of future love and partnerships. Along with these frequently employed strategies, it was being discovered that 39% of chats had an unsolicited link.
A forensic investigation conducted on the links reports that 19% (71 links) were embedded with malware, 5% (18 links) led to phishing websites, and 41% (154 links) were associated with whereby, a video conferencing platform operated by a company in Norway.
It was very obvious how some of these links were used by a predator to harm the child victims. Online predators can remotely access a child's camera by infecting their computer with spyware. Personal information can be collected from phishing websites and utilized by the predator to harm their victim. For instance, phishing scams can give a predator access to a child's computer password, which can then be used to log in and control the child's camera remotely.
How can you Keep Your Child Safe From Online Predators?
Awareness is the initial step towards a safe and trustable virtual space. These attack methods are mentioned for the parents and policymakers so that they could protect and educate the otherwise vulnerable individuals.
Since the issue is now made transparent to videoconferencing firms, they are looking forward can modifying their platforms to prevent such assaults in the future. In the long run, putting more emphasis on privacy could stop designs that could be used for evil purposes.
Here, we are recommending some of the ways that could help in keeping your child safe while in cyberspace:
- Protect your child's webcam at all times. While this does not stop sexual abuse, it will prevent online predators from eavesdropping on victims through a webcam.
- It is highly advised to actively monitor your child’s online activities. Chatrooms and social media’s attribute of anonymity serve as an advantage to predators to facilitate initial contact following up on a case of online sexual assault. One must keep in mind that online strangers are still strangers, thus making it crucial for your child to be taught about ‘stranger danger’.