Cyberstalking refers to the act of harassing a victim by a stalker through the means of e-mail, instant messaging (IM), or messages posted on a discussion group or website. The stalker reckons upon the anonymity offered by the Internet in order stalk their victims in a confidential manner. Cyber Stalking is something different from ordinary spamming because a Cyberstalker targets a specific victim with mostly threatening messages whereas the spammer targets a large group of individuals with annoying messages.

Protecting Yourself Against Cyberstalking

People who believe they are victims of cyberstalking. The first step should be to demand the stalker to stop all contact and stop the harassing actions. Additionally, in order to facilitate prosecution of the perpetrator, the victim should:

• Save all e-mails, messages and other communications for evidence. It is vital that these are not altered in any way and that the electronic copies are kept, rather than only printouts.
• Save all records of threats against the victim’s safety or life. This includes any written or recorded threats and logs of the date, time and circumstances of verbal threats.
• Contact the perpetrator’s internet service provider. Internet service providers (ISP) prohibit their users from using their service to harass others. Contacting the ISP may result in discontinuation of the harasser’s internet service and will put the ISP on notice to maintain record of the harasser’s internet use.
• Keep detailed records of contacts with ISP and law enforcement officials. It is important to keep a log of all reports made to any agency or provider, and to obtain copies of the official reports when available.