![]() ![]() Having gained access to the camera, a predator can violate the child by watching and recording them without actual – as opposed to technical – consent. Instead, someone who can persuade a victim to visit a seemingly innocuous site could gain control of the child’s camera. The offender does not need to be technically savvy or socially manipulative to gain access to a child’s webcam. This method of attack can simplify online sexual abuse. Whereby video meetingsĪt first, it was unclear why Whereby was favored among online predators or whether the platform was being used to facilitate online sexual abuse.Īfter further investigation, we found that online predators could exploit known functions in the Whereby platform to watch and record children without their active or informed consent. For example, phishing attacks can give a predator access to the password to a child’s computer, which could be used to access and remotely control the child’s camera. Phishing sites are used to harvest personal information, which can aid the predator in victimizing their target. Online predators use malware to compromise a child’s computer system and gain remote access to their webcam. It was immediately obvious to us how some of these links could help a predator victimize a child. We conducted a forensics investigation of the links and found that 19% (71 links) were embedded with malware, 5% (18 links) led to phishing websites, and 41% (154 links) were associated with Whereby, a video conferencing platform operated by a company in Norway.Įditor’s note: The Conversation reviewed the author’s unpublished data and confirmed that 41% of the links in the chatbot dialogues were to Whereby video meetings, and that a sample of the dialogues with the Whereby links showed subjects attempting to entice what they were told were 13-year-old girls to engage in inappropriate behavior. In addition to these commonly used tactics, we found that 39% of conversations included an unsolicited link. Others attempted to solicit videos with promises of love and future relationships. Some predators were explicit in their desires and immediately offered payment for videos of the child performing sexual acts. Nearly all the conversations were sexual in nature with an emphasis on webcams. In total, our chatbots logged 953 conversations with self-identified adults who were told they were talking with a 13-year-old girl. In contrast, the automated chatbots we used gathered data about active offenders and the current methods they use to facilitate sexual abuse. Most prior studies of child sexual abuse rely on historical data from police reports, which provides an outdated depiction of the tactics currently used to abuse children. Though it’s possible some subjects were underage and posing as adults, previous research shows online predators usually represent themselves as younger than they actually are, not older.Ī section of dialogue between a self-identified adult and the researchers’ chatbot posing as a 13-year-old. This is common practice in chatroom culture and ensured the conversations logged were with adults over the age of 18 who were knowingly and willingly chatting with a minor. We programmed the bots to begin each conversation by stating their age, sex and location. The bots never initiated conversations and were programmed to respond only to users who identified as over 18 years of age. We deployed these chatbots as bait for online predators in various chatrooms frequently used by children to socialize. We began by creating several automated chatbots disguised as 13-year-old girls. To do this, we posed online as children to observe active online predators in action. Our current research examines the methods online predators use to compromise children’s webcams. We are criminologists who study cybercrime and cybersecurity. Once having gained access to a child’s webcam, a predator can use it to record, produce and distribute child pornography. Increasingly, predators are using advances in technology to engage in technology-facilitated sexual abuse. Social media sites and chatrooms are the most common methods used to facilitate contact with kids, and abuse occurs both online and offline. There has been a tenfold increase in sexual abuse imagery created with webcams and other recording devices worldwide since 2019, according to the the Internet Watch Foundation. ![]()
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