Cyberstalking: Harassment in the Internet Age and How to Protect Your Family

Cyberstalking is an entirely new form of deviant behavior that uses technology to harass others in a variety of ways. In less than a decade, our reliance on the Internet, email, instant messaging, chat rooms, and other communications technologies has made cyberstalking a growing social problem that can affect computer users anywhere in the world. This is the first book devoted entirely to an examination of cyberstalking, providing an overview of the problem, its causes and consequences, and practical advice for protecting yourself and your loved ones.

New technologies have enriched our lives in countless ways. Yet these technologies can easily be misused to frighten, intimidate, coerce, harass, and victimize unsuspecting users. Cyberstalking is an entirely new form of deviant behavior that uses technology to harass others in a variety of ways. In less than a decade, our reliance on the Internet, email, instant messaging, chat rooms, and other communications technologies has made cyberstalking a growing social problem that can affect computer users anywhere in the world. This is the first book devoted entirely to an examination of cyberstalking, providing an overview of the problem, its causes and consequences, and practical advice for protecting yourself and your loved ones.

Although cyberstalking usually involves one person pursuing another, this is not always the case. As the behavior has evolved, it has come to include such acts as stock market fraud, identity theft, sexual harassment, data theft, impersonation, consumer fraud, computer monitoring, and attacks by political groups on government services. More disturbingly, pornographers and pedophiles have begun to use cyberstalking as a way of locating new victims. While cyberstalking has become a worldwide problem, most cases originate in the United States, making Americans the most vulnerable group of targets. Bocij carefully delineates the boundaries of cyberstalking, providing real-life examples, guidance for avoiding the pitfalls, and suggestions for what to do if you fall victim.