This week, as part of Cyber Security Awareness Month, our staff had the opportunity to sit down with Senior Supervisory Special Agent (SSSA) Craig LeCadre from the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General and talk about Cyber Crime. SSSA LeCadre has 24 years of law enforcement experience, starting out with the Harrisburg Police Department, and then transitioning to the Office of the Attorney General. SSSA LeCadre’s primary focus is education and outreach and we are so very thankful to him for the great information he provided us! He gave us some great data on cyber predators and we wanted to share it with you!
What we learned about cyber predators…
- Cyber/internet predators are an issue we face across Pennsylvania. Currently the Office of the Attorney General has 8 agents and 2 attorneys that investigate individuals who target children online for victimization. In 2005 alone their office arrested 313 offenders and to date have a 100% conviction rate!
- The laws governing internet activities cannot keep pace with changing technology, making the fight against cybercrime and cyber predators challenging.
- Cyber predators find their young victims in chat-rooms, social networking sites, live audio/visual sites like Skype and through online gaming.
- Cyber predators will work to find out personal information through seemingly harmless conversations, imitates emotional status in hopes of befriending child and fabricates mutual interests.
- These predators use the internet to seek out their victims because it allows them to be anonymous and assume fake identities (such as other children). It gives them easy access to personal information that children may have posted on sites and offers geographic locations through “geo tagging” markers on pictures and posts.
- Most cyber predators are male, often married with children, professionals and in good standing in the community, usually involved in activities that provide access to children, possess above average intelligence, and highly motive to get access to their victims (will travel far).
- Children targeted by cyber predators are typically, BUT NOT ALWAYS those who spend a large amount of time online, has more technical skills that parents, has few friends and poor interpersonal skills, may not spend much “quality” time with parents, posts pictures, videos or private info online, and lack parameters regarding internet use.
How to protect our children from cyber predators…
- Use internet filters to block inappropriate or adult websites
- Limit texting/camera features on kids cell phones
- Use internet tracking software to see where your kids are surfing
- Place computer in a visible location in your home, that allows you to frequently view what your child is doing
- Monitor and periodically check your child’s social networking page for inappropriate photos or info
- Maintain an open dialogue with your children so that they would feel comfortable enough to share something important with you
- Establish parameters for responsible use of technology
- Educate kids on cyber predators and the dangers that exist
SSSA LeCadre shared some other great information with us that we hope to share with you over the next week, so stay tuned!
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