What Is Cyberstalking?

Date First Published: 5th June 2023

Topic: Cybersecurity

Subtopic: Threats To Systems, Data & Information

Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty Level: 4/10

Learn more about what cyberstalking is in this article.

Cyberstalking is a form of stalking that happens electronically over the internet or on a mobile phone. The anonymity of online communication has made it easy for cyberstalkers to persistently harass, threaten, and stalk individuals, groups, and organisations over the internet with unwanted attention and not leave them alone, sometimes without being detected. Cyberstalkers often rely on public sources of information to track people down and find out as much information as they can to target them for threats and follow them in a way that makes them feel uncomfortable or harassed.

Examples Of Cyberstalking

Cyberstalking can come in so many forms. Below are 15 examples of cyberstalking:

• Using GPS devices to track where victims are without their permission or knowledge.
• Spreading false rumours about someone else on social media sites to get a reaction out of them and follow them around the internet.
• Persistently joining the same groups, forums, and social media sites to follow someone online in a way that makes them feel uncomfortable or harassed.
• Persistently taking degrading or embarrassing pictures or videos of someone else and posting them on the Web to a wide audience without their permission.
• Hijacking someone's webcam to secretly record them without their permission.
• Commenting on or liking everything someone posts online in a way that makes them feel uncomfortable.
• Creating fake accounts to follow the same person on social media.
• Tracking someone's actions or logging keystrokes by installing spyware on their computer and tracing their IP address.
• Persistently flooding someone else's inbox with unsolicited email messages.
• Encouraging other people to harass someone. Cyberstalkers may use false situations to get third parties to threaten or harass someone else.
• Ordering goods and services in someone else's name and having them delivered to them without their permission or knowledge.
• Making false accusations. Cyberstalkers sometimes claim that the victim has done something wrong, but the situation is made-up and only designed to stalk them. They may also threaten them with the release of personal information.
• Repeatedly calling someone's phone number and harassing them.
• Hacking into someone else's accounts and posting or sending harmful messages or spam in their name to spite them and steal their personal information.
• Excessively tagging someone else in social media posts, even when they have nothing to do with them.

Types Of Cyberstalking

There are two main types of cyberstalking, which are direct and indirect cyberstalking.

• Direct cyberstalking - The more common type of cyberstalking. In this type of cyberstalking, the cyberstalker directly stalks or harasses the victim. Examples of this are flooding the victim's inboxes with unsolicited emails or continuously following them around the internet, like joining all the same groups, forums, and social media sites.
• Indirect cyberstalking - In this type of cyberstalking, cyberstalkers do not directly interact with the victim. The goal is to harm the victim's device and sneakily collect data without their permission or knowledge. This includes installing spyware on their computer that monitors all of their actions and logs keystrokes and hijacking their webcam to activate it remotely, allowing them to take video recordings and send it to a remote location and watch them without the indicator light on.

Difference Between Cyberstalking and Cyberbullying

The terms cyberstalking and cyberbullying are sometimes used synonymously, but cyberstalking is not the same thing as cyberbullying. Cyberstalking is a type of cyberbullying and they both take place electronically over the internet or on a mobile phone. However, cyberstalking is more focused on the use of the internet to stalk or keep a tab on someone else. On the other hand, cyberbullying is a wider term referring to general, intentional, and persistent behaviours designed to emotionally harm or intimidate someone on the internet.

How To Prevent Cyberstalking?

There is no single way to completely prevent cyberstalking, but there are some ways to prevent it. Below are five steps you can take to avoid becoming a victim of cyberstalking:

Avoid posting your personal information

The first and most important step to avoid becoming a victim of cyberstalking is to avoid posting your personal information, like your real name, physical address, phone number, email address, your school, or your workplace in a public place and limit the amount of information you share online. If you post any personal information online, anyone can easily access it and use it against you. Being a victim of cyberstalking will be far less likely if you avoid revealing your personal information. Most cyberstalkers already know some information about their victims to target them for harassment and they often start by Googling their targets and finding out everything they can.

Use strong antivirus software and keep it up to date

Cyberstalkers may try to trick you into installing spyware on your computer so that they can track your actions and trace your IP address. Strong antivirus software can often detect any attempts to install spyware before it actually infects your computer.

Keep your operating system and software up to date

Cyberstalkers can exploit vulnerabilities in operating systems and software to install malware on your computer to track your activities and gather data about you. An example of a vulnerability is a drive-by download, which unknowingly downloads and installs things on a computer without the user's permission or knowledge. Updates can fix bugs and vulnerabilities discovered by other users, including drive-by downloads.

Safeguard devices using strong password protection and don't leave them unattended

Using strong passwords will reduce the risks of unauthorised access to your accounts. Cyberstalkers sometimes try to hack into accounts to post spam or false information in the victim's name and obtain their personal information to stalk them online. Also, don't leave devices unattended as it is easy for someone to install spyware without you knowing, even if you have only been away for a few minutes.

Don't use public Wi-Fi to enter sensitive information

Using public Wi-Fi, like Wi-Fi in airports and coffee shops to enter sensitive information, like financial details is unsafe as it is accessible to anyone without any restrictions and they could eavesdrop on your communications to capture your personal information, which can be used to stalk you online.

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