A MINI-PROJECT REPORT

ON
“Cyberstalking”
Submitted by
Kiara Jamal

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

Prof. Manisha Wasnik

towards the partial fulfillment of

Fourth Year Under
Graduate Course in Computer Engineering of
SAVITRIBAI PHULE PUNE UNIVERSITY
in the academic year 2022-2023.

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER ENGINEERING

Dr. D. Y. Patil School of Engineering

Dr. D. Y. Patil Knowledge City, Charholi (Bk), Lohegaon, Pune - 412 105

Affiliated to
SAVITRIBAI PHULE PUNE UNIVERSITY (2022-2023)
 DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER ENGINEERING,

Dr. D. Y. Patil School of Engineering

Dr. D. Y. Patil Knowledge City, Charholi (Bk), Lohgaon, Pune - 412 105

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Mini-project Report
On

“Cyberstalking”

Submitted by
Exam seat no: 72034686L Kiara Jamal

Towards the partial fulfillment of Fourth Year Under Graduate Course

in
Computer Engineering
Of

SAVITRIBAI PHULE PUNE UNIVERSITY

In the academic year 2022-23

Prof. Manisha Wasnik Dr. Pankaj Agarkar

Project Guide HOD

 AKNOWLEDGEMENT
It gives me a great pleasure and immense satisfaction to present this special
topic of project report on “Cyberstalking” which is the result of unwavering
support, expert guidance and focused direction of guide Prof. Manisha Wasnik to
whom I express my deep sense of gratitude and humble thanks, for his valuable
guidance throughout the presentation work.

Furthermore, I am indebted to Dr. Pankaj Agarkar, HOD Computer

Engineering and Dr. F. B. Sayyad, Principal whose constant encouragement and
motivation inspired me to do my best.

Last but not the least I sincerely thank to my colleagues, the staff and all
others who directly or indirectly helped us and made numerous suggestions which
have surely improved the quality of my work.

Kiara Jamal
(B.E. Computer
Engineering)
Abstract
Cyber stalking is kind of cyber terrorism crime. Although it often receives a lower priority then
cyber terrorism it is an important global issue. Due to new technologies, it is striking in
different forms. Due to the Internet’s provision of anonymity and security it is proliferating
quickly. Technology and tools available to curb it have many limitations and are not easy to
implement. Legal acts to protect people from cyber stalking are geographically limited to the
concerned state or country. This chapter reviews cyber stalking, its approaches, impacts,
provision of legal acts, and measures to be taken to prevent it. There is an immediate need for
research in the various dimensions of cyber stalking to assess this social problem.

Introduction

Cyberstalking is a crime in which someone harasses or stalks a victim using electronic or digital
means, such as social media, email, instant messaging (IM), or messages posted to a discussion
group or forum. Cyberstalkers take advantage of the anonymity afforded by the internet to stalk
or harass their victims, sometimes without being caught, punished or even detected.

The terms cyberstalking and cyberbullying are often used interchangeably. Cyberstalking,
however, is actually a form of cyberbullying, which -- along with cybersquatting and
cyberterrorism -- is among the growing number of computer- and internet-related crimes,
collectively referred to as cybercrime.
Although cyberstalking is a general term for online harassment, it can take many forms,
including slander, defamation, false accusations, trolling and even outright threats. In many
cases, especially when both the harasser and victim are individuals, the motive may be the
following:

● monitor the victim's online -- and, in some cases, offline -- activities;

● track the victim's locations and follow them online or offline;
● annoy the victim;
● intimidate, frighten, control or blackmail the victim;
● reveal private information about the victim, a practice known as doxing; or
● gather more information about the victim to steal their identity or perpetrate other real-
world crimes, like theft or harassment.
Cyberstalkers often start small. In the beginning, they may send a few strange or somewhat
unpleasant messages to their intended victim. Then, later, they may brush off these messages
as funny, annoying or mildly weird and ignore them without taking any action.
Over time, the messages may become systematic, sustained and repetitive and take on an
increasingly intimidating or frightening tone.

Direct and indirect cyberstalking

Cyberstalking can be direct or indirect. Perpetrators may directly email their victims or flood
their inboxes with emails. Or they may harass them through IM, voicemail, texting or other
forms of electronic communications. They may use technologies to survey or follow their
victims or continuously view their pages -- often without their knowledge.
Sometimes, cyberstalkers may send obscene, vulgar or offensive comments, social media
follower or friend requests, or even outright threats. The stalkers may either attack the victims,
which may distress them, or cause them to fear for their safety and well-being. They may also
attack their victims' family or friends to expand their sphere of stalking influence.
In indirect cyberstalking attacks, perpetrators may damage the victim's device. They may do
this by infecting it with ransomware to lock their files and then forcing them to pay a ransom
for unlocking them. Or they may install a virus or keystroke logger that monitors the victim's
digital behavior and/or steals data from the device
A particular type of spyware called stalkerware can run on a victim's internet-enabled digital
device and collect the user's actions on these devices, including emails, text messages,
photographs and keystrokes.
In other indirect attacks, perpetrators may post false or malicious information about their
victims online to damage their social standing or professional reputations -- a form of cyber
smearing -or set up a fake social media or forum account in their victims' names to impersonate
them and post online material on their behalf.

Cyberstalking: Victims and criminals

Often, cyberstalkers pursue their victims over a sustained period. An overwhelming majority
of cyberstalkers are men, while victims are usually women. However, cyberstalking cases
where women were the perpetrators are not unheard of. For instance, following the 2006 Megan
Meier suicide case in Missouri, a female cyberstalker was indicted and convicted in 2008 of
violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Occasionally, men have been victims in some
cyberstalking cases.
Victims of cyberstalking could be individuals -- mature adults, young adults and children are
all susceptible -- or groups, organizations or even governments. According to the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, children and adults are particularly vulnerable to one particular type
of cyberstalking: sextortion.
This is when stalkers threaten a victim with the release of private or sensitive information
unless the latter can meet the former's demands for sexual favors, nude photos, etc.

Consequences of cyberstalking
As part of a cyberstalking campaign, a stalker may harass a victim with content that's simply
annoying or inappropriate and more of a nuisance than anything else. In more serious cases,
victims may have to contend with content that's disturbing, traumatizing or threatening. They
may face severe forms of online harassment, including sexual harassment and physical threats.
In almost every cyberstalking case, victims feel annoyed at best and fearful at worst.
Confusion, anger and anxiety are common among victims. Some may also experience insomnia
or suffer from physical ailments, like headaches, acid reflux or stomach ulcers, or mental
ailments, like depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. In extreme cases, they may become
suicidal.

Is cyberstalking a crime?
Cyberstalking is a crime is many countries, including the United States. However, legislation
to prevent cyberstalking and to punish apprehended cyberstalkers varies from country to
country and, in the case of the U.S., even from state to state.
California was the first U.S. state to pass a cyberstalking law in 1999. Other U.S. states with at
least some kind of cyberstalking legislation include the following:
Alabama
New York
Illinois
Hawaii
Arizona
Texas
Florida
Missouri's anti-cyberstalking law, meant to criminalize the use of the internet to harass
someone, was written after the aforementioned Megan Meier case.
Since 2000, U.S. federal law specifically addresses cyberstalking under the Violence
Against Women Act. The punishment for cyberstalking ranges from monetary fines to time
in prison. Other countries that have anti-cyberstalking legislation in place include the
following: Australia
Canada
Philippines
India
Pakistan
Nigeria
Singapore
South Africa
In the U.K., cyber harassment is a prosecutable crime under the Protection from Harassment
Act 1997 or the Malicious Communications Act 1988. Some countries like Singapore also have
laws to prosecute internet trolls.
The practice of doxing, the online publication of a user's personal and identifying data, is
considered a violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

How to guard against cyberstalking

Individuals can guard against cyberstalking without losing their online independence. One
strategy is to stay as anonymous as possible. Of course, complete anonymity is almost
impossible on the internet nowadays, so the next best thing is to keep a low profile, especially
on social media.
Rather than having an identifiable and traceable online presence, use nicknames and/or
gender-neutral names when possible. Avoid posting personal details, such as your email
address, home address, phone number or workplace details, online, where anyone can easily
access them and use them to cyberstalk. Also, guard photographs, and make sure all private
information, like vacation plans, photos and posts, are visible only to trusted individuals. Use
a primary email account only for communicating with known/trusted people, and set up an
anonymous email account for all other communications. Install email spam filters to
minimize spam and the possibility of email-based phishing or cyberstalking attacks.

What to do if cyberstalked
Should an individual become the victim of a cyberstalker, it's important to take immediate
action.The most effective course of action is to report the offender to their internet service
provider (ISP). Should that option be ineffective, they should change their ISP and all online
names.Block the person, even if these messages are not yet threatening. Also, report them to
the platform, especially if they're harassing, stalking or threatening. Most social media
platforms make it easy to report abusive behavior. These include Facebook, Twitter and
LinkedIn.If the stalking has become threatening or frightening, save evidence, and contact law
enforcement. Also, minimize the amount of information that's available online and/or increase
the amount of fake decoy information about you to mislead cyberstalkers.

Social and Psychological effects

The studies, which have looked at off-line stalking and its effects on victims by and large, are
of the university populations (Maxwell, 2001). For instance, the Fremauw, Westrup, and
Pennypacker (1997) study explored coping styles of university off-line stalking victims. They
found that the most common way of coping with a stalker was to ignore the stalker and the
second most common way, was to confront the stalker. According to them, victims were least
likely to report the off-line stalker to the authorities. The Report on Cyberstalking (1999)
mentions that many victims of cyber stalking claimed they did not think that they would be
listened to if they reported the cyber stalking to authorities. Mostly victims of cyber stalking
were unaware that a crime had been committed. Currently there are only a few studies on the
psychological impact on victims (Maxwell, 2001). Westrup, Fremouw, Thompson, and Lewis
(1999) studied the psychological effects of 232 female off-line stalking victims and found the
major ity of victims had symptoms of depression, anxiety, and experienced panic attacks. In
another study by Mullen and Pathe (1997) found that 20% of victims showed increased alcohol
consumption and 74% of victims suffered sleep disturbances. However social and
psychological effects are interrelated.In a separate study, David, Coker, and Sanderson (2002)
found that the physical and mental health effects of being stalked were not gender-related. Both
male and female victims experienced impaired health, depression, injury, and were more likely
to engage in substance abuse than their nonstalked peers.

Conclusion
Cyber stalking may lend support to cyber warfare and cyber terrorism. Present laws to tackle
cyber stalking are geographically limited to the concerned state or country. Therefore, there is
an urgent need to make global legislation for handling cyber warfare and cyber terrorism.
Organizations like the UN and Interpol should initiate this. In address-ing cyber stalking, new
and innovative legislations, technologies, and investigative countermeasures will almost
certainly be mandatory. We hope that information system security professionals will move in
this direction. Researchers will also put their efforts for empirical studies in various aspects of
cyber stalking to know more about it, which will help technologist, lawmakers and others to
make a real assessment.

References
1. Full article: Cyber Stalking (researchgate.net)
2. Cyberstalking Project Proposal | PDF | Social Networking Service | Stalking (scribd.com)
3. (PDF) What is Cyberstalking? A Review of Measurements (researchgate.net)