While the Internet and social media have been the source of many blessings, it can be the source of many curses, from cyber bullying to the NSA scandals. Now there’s another evil lurking.
It’s called sextortion. Hackers break into unsuspecting people’s computers and smartphones. Then they see and take pictures of all your intimate moments. Then they come and make demands…do what we want and give us what we want or we’ll post the pictures. Don’t think it can happen? Just ask Miss Teen USA Cassidy Wolf. Someone had slipped technology called RAT, Remote Administration Tool, and snapped pictures of her in her room. According to Ms. Wolf, the light wasn’t even on and she didn’t even know she was being filmed. The hacker threated to expose them if she didn’t give into his demands. The last time I checked, the FBI identified a suspect.
Unfortunately, Cassidy Wolf’s ordeal isn’t unique. Celebrities from Mila Kunis to Scarlett Johansson have been victimized. But you don’t have to be a celebrity to fall prey to this sickness. A Glendale, CA man got 350 women to show him naked pictures. Now what are we going to do about it? Cassidy Wolf is taking bold steps to address sextortion as part of her platform during her Miss Teen USA reign. She’s also educating other teens about these dangers. We can keep the sextortion story in the media and in the public eye. They more we do this the more we demand computer makers?and ?security companies to build better things to combat this gross invasion. We can also stay on our lawmakers and political leaders to pass laws against sextortion. There are people serving 10 year prison sentences for this perpetration. ?And we need to educate, educate and educate! The hackers and criminals are getting smarter. Shouldn’t we?