Online harassment | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

Ever since the creation of online chat rooms and then social networking, people have changed the way they interact with their friends and associates. However, when it comes to anonymous chatting services, you don't even know what kinds of individuals you are dealing with. Sharing identifiable information about yourself with them could put you at risk of becoming a victim of stalking, harassment, identity theft, webcam blackmail, and even phishing scams. Have you heard of Omegle? The popular, free online anonymous chat service that allows you to chat with random strangers, without any registration. The service randomly pairs you in one-on-one chat window where you can chat anonymously over text or webcam. But, are your chats actually Anonymous? No, all your chats are recorded and saved by the service. So, if you have shared your personal details such as your name, phone number, or email address, with anyone over the service, you are no more anonymous. Even the websi...

Online harassment has been elevated a step with the advent of popular social networks like Facebook. Cyber stalkers create fake profiles impersonating other Facebook users and start doing activities on their behalf until and unless the owners notice the fake profiles and manually report it to Facebook. Even in some cases, cyber stalkers block the Facebook account holders whom they impersonate in order to carry out mischievous tasks through fake profiles without being detected by the actual account holders. But now, online criminals can no longer fool anyone with impersonation method, as Facebook is currently working on a feature that automatically informs its 1.6 Billion user base about the cloned accounts. If the company detects a duplicate Facebook account of a user, it will automatically send an alert to the original account holder, who'll be prompted to identify if the profile in question is indeed a fake profile impersonating you or if it actually belongs t...

A 29-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday for hacking into a girl's social networking profile, altering her photos, and posting inappropriate messages. The police apprehended Pramod Nana Bavdekar from his home in Andheri, seizing his computer and hard disk as evidence. The incident began on November 8, when the victim noticed her account was being used by someone else after she tried to log in. Consulting an expert, she learned her profile had been hacked. Shortly after, she was horrified to find her nude photos and a message stating, "I am a prostitute," on her profile. Additionally, her bank account number and other personal details were posted. The victim later received four letters via courier containing similar messages and photos, prompting her to file a complaint with the cyber division of the BKC police station. In her complaint, she mentioned her suspicion of Bavdekar, a former neighbor who had proposed to her two years earlier. According to the police, altho...