No one can question the benefits of the Internet and smartphones for society. However, it has also opened a gateway for scammers, pedophiles, and so on. We explain what sextortion consists of.
Many people cannot live without their mobile phone. They are true addicts to the telephone and the Internet, and their life revolves around this device that, without a doubt, has changed our lives. Using the phone too much can cause minor problems such as “text neck” and more serious problems such as “grooming” or “sextortion”.
As Kaspersky Lab explains to us, “’sextortion’ is a form of sexual blackmail in which cybercriminals have users’ private content (usually photos or videos) and threaten to make it public on the Internet, unless the victims pay with a favor, sometimes of a sexual nature ”. Or what is the same, the extortionist demands more photos, videos, or that the victim makes a payment , under the threat of publishing and disseminating said content if he does not do so.
Cybercriminals can obtain the material with which to extort money from their victims in three different ways , according to antivirus specialists:
– That the criminal install spyware on the victim’s computer or phone so that he can control the webcam or camera.
– That the victim, through phishing techniques, download a malware that steals the contents of the computer.
– The criminal to physically steal the smartphone or computer, taking the data.
The theft of compromised photographs and videos is the order of the day. This has been revealed after the theft of compromising images of various famous people, so Kaspersky Lab recommends keeping software and operating systems updated, avoiding suspicious web pages and links , and not connecting unknown storage devices to the computer. or mobile phone and install a suitable antivirus.
