Study finds online predators target children’s webcams

there was Sexual abuse imagery increased 10x Created using webcams and other recording devices around the world since 2019, according to the Internet Watch Foundation.

Social media sites and chat rooms are the most common methods used to facilitate contact with children, and abuse occurs both online and offline.Increasingly, predators are taking advantage of technological advances Engaging in technology-assisted sexual abuse.

Once predators gain access to a child’s webcam, they can use it to record, produce, and distribute child pornography.

we are criminologist A person who studies cybercrime and cybersecurity. Our current investigation looks at the methods online predators use to compromise children’s webcams. To do this, we took child poses online to observe active online predators in action.

chatbot

I started by creating some automated chatbot Disguised as a 13-year-old girl. We deployed these chatbots as bait for online predators in various chat rooms that children frequently use to interact. It was programmed to respond only to users identified as above.

We programmed the bot to initiate each conversation by specifying age, gender, and location.this is Common sense of chat room culture We also verified that the logged conversation was with an adult over the age of 18 knowingly willing to chat with a minor.Some of the subjects were minors and may have pretended to be adults, but previous studies have shown Online predators usually describe themselves as young Not older than they actually are.

Most previous research on child sexual abuse has relied on historical data from police reports, providing an outdated depiction of the tactics currently used to abuse children. In contrast, the automated chatbots we used collected data about current offenders and the current methods they use to facilitate sexual abuse.

Attack method

In total, our chatbot recorded 953 conversations with self-identified adults who were said to be talking to a 13-year-old girl. Nearly all conversations were of a sexual nature with an emphasis on webcams. Some predators offered immediate payment for videos of children performing sexual acts.Others have tried to ask for videos with promises of love and future relationships. commonly used tacticsfound that 39% of conversations contained unsolicited links.

A forensic investigation of the links found that 19% (71 links) were embedded in malware, 5% (18 links) led to phishing websites, and 41% (154 links) were related. rice field. Therebya video conferencing platform operated by a Norwegian company.

Editor’s Note: The Conversation reviewed unpublished data from the authors and found that 41% of links in chatbot dialogs were to Whereby video conferences, and in a sample of dialogs that used Whereby links, subjects said I have confirmed that I have indicated that I am trying to seduce a forcing a young girl to do something inappropriate.

It soon became apparent how some of these links could help predators prey on children. Get remote access to your camera. Phishing sites are used to collect personal information and help predators to prey on their targets. For example, a phishing attack could 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.

This allows video conferencing

At first, it was unclear why Whereby was favored among online predators, or if the platform was being used to facilitate online sexual abuse.

Upon further investigation, we found that online predators could abuse known features of the Whereby platform to monitor and record children without affirmative or informed consent.

This attack method can simplify online sexual abuse. Criminals don’t need to be tech savvy or socially manipulative to access a child’s webcam. Instead, someone who can persuade the victim to visit a seemingly harmless site could gain control of the child’s camera.

Predators who gain camera access can compromise children by viewing and recording them without their actual consent, as opposed to technical consent.This level of access and disregard for privacy Promote online sexual abuse.

Based on our analysis, predators may be able to use Whereby to control a child’s webcam by embedding a live video stream on a website of their choice.there was a software developer run the test We showed that with an embedded Whereby account, the account host can embed code that can turn on the visitor’s camera. This test confirmed that it is possible to turn on the camera without the visitor’s knowledge.

We have found no evidence that other major video conferencing platforms such as Zoom, BlueJeans, WebEx, GoogleMeet, GoTo Meeting, or Microsoft Teams can be abused in this manner.

Visitor camera and microphone controls are restricted within the Whereby platform, with an icon indicating that the camera and microphone are turned on. However, children may not notice the camera and microphone indicators and may be at risk if they switch browser tabs without exiting the Whereby platform or closing that tab. In this scenario, the child would be unaware that the host is controlling the camera and microphone.

Editor’s note: The Conversation reached out to Whereby, and a spokesperson disputed that the feature could be abused. Victor Alexandru Truică, Head of Information Security at Whereby, writes: He also said that users can see when the camera is on and “can close, revoke, or ‘turn off’ that permission at any time.”

Lawyers for the company also wrote that Whereby disputes the researchers’ claims. “Whereby takes customer privacy and safety seriously. This commitment is core to the way we do business and is central to our products and services.”

Revoking webcam access following initial authorization requires knowledge of browser caching. Children are seen as fluent new media users, according to a recent survey, Lack of digital literacy in the areas of safety and privacyCache is a more advanced safety and privacy feature, so don’t assume your kids know how or how to clear their browser’s cache.

Keep your kids safe online

Awareness is the first step to a safe and trusted cyberspace. We are reporting these attack methods to help parents and policy makers protect and educate vulnerable populations. Video conferencing companies are aware of these exploits and can reconfigure their platforms to avoid such exploits. Moving forward, privacy will become a higher priority to prevent designs that can be maliciously exploited.

Here are some recommendations to keep your kids safe while online. First, always cover your child’s webcam. This won’t prevent sexual abuse, but it will prevent predators from spying on you via your webcam.

You should also monitor your child’s Internet activity. The anonymity provided by social media sites and chat rooms facilitates initial contact that can lead to online sexual abuse. Online strangers are still strangers, so teach your kids about the dangers of strangers. More information about online safety is available on her website at the lab. Evidence-Based Cyber ​​Security Study Group and sarasota cyber security.

Authors: Eden Kamar – Postdoctoral Fellow, Hebrew University of Jerusalem | Christian Jordan Howell – Assistant Professor of Cybercrime, University of South Florida