The different types of Internet blackmail

WHAT TO DO

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One of the most challenging problems on the Internet is the fact that it has made our secrets, whether personal or professional, much easier to access.

Many people will state that they have “nothing to hide,” and it’s true that few of us are engaged in any seriously illegal activity. Even still, there may be perfectly legal but embarrassing information in your life that you’d like to keep hidden: private photos, personal discussions, or business secrets—these are often what Internet blackmail targets.

To protect yourself, you first need to know what kinds of blackmail happen on the Internet. You may also want to explore our other articles on this topic:

How to deal with online blackmail
Understanding Internet blackmail laws
Categories of blackmail and related crimes

Blackmail, extortion and several other related crimes fall under the general category of coercion, in which when someone is forced to do or not do something. The specifics of how the crimes are defined varies from country to country, but coercion-related crimes are almost always illegal.

Of course, for blackmail to rise to the level of a felony, it needs to be a somewhat serious offense: a parent threatening to take away television-watching privileges from a child until his or her room is cleaned clearly doesn’t count as criminal blackmail.

That said, there has been a fair amount of confusion about whether or not online blackmail is covered by the same laws and protections as its offline equivalent. In almost all cases, the answer is yes. In fact, there may also be additional laws that provide further recourse to victims, as explained in our article on Internet blackmail laws.

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Extortion

In the South Africa, extortion and blackmail are different crimes, although they are closely related. Extortion is the use of threat to get something out of the target, either property, money, or some service.

Ransomware is a common example of online extortion, in which the victim’s computer is locked down until a ransom is paid.

Often, attackers will take control of a user’s computer by sending phishing emails. These are misleading emails, disguised as security alerts or other urgent correspondence. Once a victim clicks the links in these emails, a virus is installed on the computer. The hacker then locks out the user or threatens to delete all information on the computer unless a ransom is paid.

Blackmail

Blackmail is the use of threat to force or prevent someone from doing something. Demanding that someone take nude photos to avoid having compromising information released online is an example of Internet blackmail.

As with ransomware, a lot of online blackmail starts with a hacker taking control of the victim’s computer. The attacker then looks for compromising information about the victim and uses it to control the victim’s behavior. Often, hackers demand sexually compromising photography or videos.

In a variation on this attack, instead of searching for preexisting files a blackmailer may simply take control of the victim’s webcam and record compromising videos. He or she then uses these videos to blackmail the victim.

Threats of action

Another common attack is a “threat of action,” which is a form of corporate extortion.  First, the blackmailer obtains sensitive information about the target business, often through hacking or phishing scams. This information can range from a client list to proprietary secrets or anything else that would harm the business if made public. The attacker then demands payment to keep the information secret.