Here To Help You Celebrate Safely 

We wanted to do our part to help all of our women users celebrate this day by sharing some information that can help keep you safe while enjoying your time online. dfndr security is a great solution, but knowing as much as you can about crimes against women in particular in online environments should be helpful in keeping yourself safe.

Staying safe is the subject we know best, because we love to protect our users, and give everyone the best defense on their mobile devices.

Women Disproportionately Targeted Online

The Women’s Media Center Speech Project offers an outstanding (and very sobering) account of the dangers women face everyday online. We recommend you check out their extraordinarily helpful: Online Abuse 101. The article includes a detailed description of some of the very cruel crimes women experience significantly more often than men:

Sexual Extortion;
Doxing;
Revenge Pornography;
Financial Abuse;
Stalking.

As the WMC article points out, both the kinds and degree of abuse suffered online is also different for women:

“When women are targeted, the abuse is more likely to be gendered, sustained, sexualized and linked to off-line violence. Women […] are the vast majority of the victims of nonconsensual pornography, stalking, electronic abuse and other forms of electronically-enhanced violence.”

Staying On Guard

Unfortunately, there are no easy-fixes to these escalating societal problems — which the fight for Equality in business and political domains only puts into harsher relief.  But the steps women can take to protect themselves online do begin with the same basic steps used to prevent scams, identity theft, and other gender-neutral crimes. Let’s review those briefly before we talk about what you can do if you are victimized….

General Online Security Steps

Be wary of people unknown to you.
Always be skeptical and very careful when approached by anyone unknown to you on the internet. Be especially wary if they ask for financial help or make requests for personal information of any kind. Even seemingly innocent questions about family relations, where you went to school, or whether or not you were at a particular event…all can be ways of extracting more specific data about you. And of course, never share financial or personally identifying information with someone you don’t know, or suspect of ill-will.

Never meet someone you only know online alone.
That’s a simple rule, and a crucial one. Make it your rule too…

Pay close attention whenever the interaction feels odd or unusual.
Don’t be afraid to block people who cross your boundaries. 

Be exceedingly careful about sharing your personal information.
Personal and financial data, photos, and videos are constantly being targeted by malicious people to blackmail others for money, or worse.

Know the rules and security settings for the social site you use, and report abuses promptly.
Yes, the “Settings” and “Security” pages can be a bit tedious at times, but learn the ropes and you’ll feel (and be!) much safer. All major sites have good security capabilities: learn them and use them to your advantage.  Also, learn how to report abuses and violations off site policies.

Use advanced security protection on your phone.
dfndr security, for example, offers protection against scammers, scam links, identity theft, data leakage, and WhatsApp cloning. There are more than 15 functions on dfndr security aimed specifically to enhance your personal security and privacy.

Enable advanced sign-on security mechanisms such as two-factor authentication.  With two-factor authentication, even if a scammer or blackmailer finds out your password, he/she still won’t be able to access your accounts.

What you should do if you are victimized? 

“Without My Consent” is an organization that was originally founded in 2011 with a mission to combat online invasions of privacy. They share information intended to empower individuals to stand up for their privacy rights and protect themselves. Their indispensable guide: Something Can Be Done!  is one of the best online resources for learning the steps you can take if you’re facing online privacy invasion, harassment, or worse. The following are a few general guidelines gleaned from their thorough resource:

First, gather evidence.
The specific and public record of data can be corroborated through technology — so gather all of the evidence you need. WMC’s guide to Evidence Preservation is very thorough and well worth reading in full!

Then take steps to remove the defaming material.
Contact companies / platforms and reference their policies to assure material in violation (like non-consensual pornography) is immediately taken down. Check this great resource from the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative for more information on the specific steps to take.

Report the crime.
Take all the evidence you are able to gather to the nearest police station and report it. You may want to access legal counsel as well, and you can also look into your state or local options for issuing a restraining order.

Finally, remember that you’re not alone.
Sometimes reporting these crimes can be frightening, and difficult to do. One of the reasons we wanted to share these resources with you is to help you know what steps to take, and to enable you to act confidently, knowing that there are so many people, dedicated to helping you. (Many of them have been victims too!)  Your friends and family can help you too.  

Part of the spirit of equality of International Women’s Day is reaching out across gender and generational lines to make things better for all women.  Find your squad, reach out, and stay connected. Don’t let cyber criminals isolate you: that’s all part of how they work. Sticking together with your friends may be the best defense of all. 

We Are With You, On This Important Day… And Everyday

We hope we’ve been able to do our small part to help you enjoy a safer day and year ahead with this article. We’ll continue to share the best resources we can find to help you protect yourself online — and the PSafe team will continue to do everything we can to help you use your devices with ever greater ease, confidence, and freedom.

With that, have a safe and inspiring International Women’s Day.

“Most of the time, blackmail is done by people close to the victim or who she has had some kind of intimate relationship with, such as an ex-boyfriend. But the crime can also be committed by hackers who gain access to the user’s cell phone or computer.” Explains Emilio Simoni, director of dfndr lab, PSafe’s digital security lab.

Women Are the Main Victims

Virtual rape is growing and becoming increasingly common on the internet. According to the experts, 40.9% of sextortion victims are girls and women, who can suffer serious consequences from exposure, such as embarrassment, financial damage, and even depression. This is because cybercriminals disclose the victim’s intimate content to people in their social life, such as friends and family.

How Do Sextors Strike?

Cybercriminals are always aware of new user behaviors in the digital world. They see the vulnerabilities of their potential victims as opportunities to create new attacks. Therefore, Simoni stresses that you need to be aware of what sextors are and how are the various tactics used to apply it.

Social Engineering

Social engineering is widely used in sextortion. It is the main method that scammers use to gain trust and persuade someone. “This kind of strategy is advantageous to the perpetrator because it is much easier to convince people to relinquish their data and intimate content than to have the trouble of hacking it,” says Simoni. After getting the content, the hacker starts asking for amounts of money not to disclose the compromising materials. The victim, being emotionally vulnerable, gives in to blackmail more easily.

Phishing

This type of practice is characterized by sending emails with flashy headlines that are hard to ignore. Some of these emails may contain fake offers or giveaways and upon access, the victim is hacked. “These attacks are often used by hackers because they go viral quickly, as victims unknowingly share the scam with their friends,” Simoni says.

Scammers

Fake profiles are not new, and you have probably interacted with some. Photos and videos are constantly being targeted by malicious people, and with scammers, it’s no different. Scammers use social engineering and usually try the romantic approach. Therefore, too attractive profiles, such as successful, widowed, and sometimes claiming to be handsome military men, may conceal a false identity.

What Measures Are Needed to Protect Yourself?

Shame, lack of knowledge, and fear are the main weapons of criminals. The dfndr lab experts have come up with some steps to keep your intimate life safe on the internet.

1. Don’t send photos or personal content over the internet
2. The internet allows scammers to remain anonymous, so don’t believe everyone you know online. Be wary of people approaching you through social networks, especially if they ask for financial help or access to information or photos of you.
3. If you often access your email from your phone, increase your attention. There are cyber attacks designed exclusively to infect smartphones, so it’s vital to remain aware. “Ideally, use an antivirus that offers complete protection. Dfndr security, for example, sends you alerts whenever you receive or access a malicious link, a phishing scam, or if there’s an attempt to clone your WhatsApp, ”explains Simoni. You can download dfndr security for free here.

4. Enable security mechanisms such as two-factor authentication. So even if a hacker finds your password, they still won’t be able to access your important accounts.
5. It’s very important to report cases of sextors that happen to people you know or to you directly. Appeal to Internet companies such as social networks, and Google to remove content that violates privacy and is online harassment. If you are a victim, always report the crime to the local and authoriites and review state cyber-stalking and cybercrime laws. There are avenues for you take action.