Cyber-Stalking

There are a lot of creeps in this world.

From The Washington Post:

The case had the makings of an eerie cyber-mystery: A young Alexandria woman told local police she suspected that her ex-boyfriend was tapping into her e-mail inbox from thousands of miles away, reading messages before she could and harassing the senders.

She was right to be suspicious. Her ex had hacked into her e-mail account, either guessing her password or using spyware -- software that can secretly read e-mails and survey cyber-traffic, law enforcement officials said. For months, apparently, he had followed her every online move, part of a pattern of abuse city police are still investigating.

Law enforcement officials and safety groups have focused on the Internet as an arena for such types of harassment as false impersonation and character assassination as more people voluntarily place their private lives on public display through Web sites such as Facebook.com and MySpace.com.

But a little-discussed and more threatening phenomenon is also happening to the unwitting online and in the high-tech world: cyber-stalking, the illegal monitoring of private information and communication of ex-lovers and spouses as a form of domestic violence. The spurned often use global positioning systems, invasive computer programs, cellphone monitoring chips and tiny cameras to follow the whereabouts, goings-on and personal communications of unsuspecting victims.

Although in this article the discussion focuses on the cyber-stalking as a domestic violence matter, the threats aren't always the outgrowth of a relationship gone bad.

Cyber-stalking can occur as a result of battles between bloggers and crazed individuals on Internet discussion forums.

Don't assume that you're safe.

...State legislatures took notice of online abuse about 2000 and began passing laws that make high-tech stalking a crime. A law President Bush signed last year also prohibits anonymous electronic communications intended to "threaten, abuse and harass." In addition, the Bureau of Justice Statistics has started to track technological methods used in stalking and domestic violence.

Nonetheless, advocates note that legislation might not help because it could limit the ability of authorities to counteract yet-to-be-developed technologies.

The point of the stalking is to intimidate and harass.

My advice: If it happens to you, fight back.