THIRD PARTY INTERVENTION

Publicly And Privately Stopping A Cyber-Stalker

a daunting but possible task

Cyber-stalkers are cowards whose delusions and obsessions fuel and control their behavior.  Please see the NRW profile on cyber-stalkers. Their single-minded and relentless determination to harass, terrorize, and
harm their victims makes it very difficult for a cyber-victim to seek out or expect relief from the cyber-attacks.  A cyber-stalker will not stop the attack simply because their victim tells them to stop.  Experts recommend that cyber-victims address their cyber-stalker only once, where they instruct the cyber-stalker to stop their assault.  After that, the cyber-victim must not confront their cyber-stalker either publicly or privately, and NRW agrees with this advise.  To do so is only playing into the cyber-stalker's game of controlling their victim's behavior.  But since sending that one clear message, to stop the attacks, is ineffective it becomes more of a legal formality then anything else.

Then how does the victim of a cyber-stalker get the attacks to stop?  Where can a cyber-victim turn for help and what realistic recourses are available and enforceable? While the stalking of another person is
a crime, whether it's on the streets or in cyber space, stopping a stalker can be a daunting task.  Daunting, but not impossible.  The most successful way to stop a cyber-stalker is through third party intervention.  Remember, the victim of a cyber-stalker cannot stop the cyber-stalker by themselves.  Depending on the circumstances of the type of stalking, and whether the cyber-stalker is a known person or an anonymous person, there are very clear opportunities when a third party intervention should occur and can be successful.

it's a team effort

Stopping a cyber-stalker must be a team effort, or the cyber-victim will be left without recourse and at the mercy of their cyber-stalker's agenda. If the cyber-stalker has the profile of a vengeance cyber-stalker, then the lack of third party intervention can have fatal consequences for the victim.  This is why the NRW motto is "Those who turn their back on Net Evil, endorse Net Evil".

There are a number of pro-active ways that the victim of a cyber-stalker can seek out and reasonably expect a third party intervention. To do so, the cyber-victim has to change their behavior from a defensive mode to an offensive mode. It goes without saying that the cyber-victim must collect and retain all evidence of the cyber-stalker's behavior, both publicly and  privately.  Here are the basic areas where third party intervention are most effective.  If a third party chooses not to be involved, either by passing the responsibility to someone else or even disbelieving that the actions of the cyber-stalker are not a crime, then this attitude can put the cyber-victim into a desperate situation where the cyber-stalker escalates the intensity of the attacks … simply because the cyber-stalker has no incentive to stop.

the hunter becomes the hunted

Third party interveners are in a position to impose powerful incentives for a cyber-stalker to stop their attacks.  Cyber-stalkers may get a high off of their cyber-stalking activities, but they don't like being found out or being the focus of an investigation into their activities.  They don't believe that they can or should be stopped, and so it comes as a big shock to cyber-stalkers when they discover that they have been caught and have to suffer the consequences, and take responsibility for, their actions.  Cyber-stalkers see themselves as hunters going after their cyber-prey.  But when there is a third party intervention, the cyber-stalker stops being the hunter and becomes the hunted.  When this happens, the cyber-stalker looses their control over their victim and it is now the third party intervener who has control over the cyber-stalker.

Cyber-stalking isn't just between the stalker and the victim, because they must use internet pathways to execute their agenda.  When third parties intervene, the cyber-victim is immediately relieved of the lone burden of stopping a cyber-crime that they are powerless to stop by themselves.

Any person whose life is threatened by a cyberstalker must report this to law enforcement and their ISP and internet provider.  These types of cyber assaults will be very clear and contain threatening messages. If the assaults are through direct e-mail attacks, then the cyber-victim's ISP and internet provider have a responsibility to take up position as a third party intervener.  They have the power to track down the cyber-stalker, team up with the cyber-stalker's ISP and internet provider, and as a team deal with the cyber-stalker by enforcing their own rules.  Every provider has a morals and ethics clause which is meant to protect them, and potential cyber-victims, from a cyber-stalker using their organization as base of operations.  Once an ISP or internet provider has been informed that a cyber-stalker is using them as a base of operations, then it is their responsibility to deal with the offender

third party intervention stops third party
vengeance cyber-stalking

But not all cyber-stalkers do their harassment directly, but prefer to do so by manipulating third parties to carry out their attacks.  See the NRW profile of vengeance cyber-stalkers and their use of third party manipulation.  Once a cyber-victim learns of the involvement of a
third party, it is imperative that the victim, and/or a representative of the victim, contact the unsuspecting third party and inform them about the cyber-stalker's activities.  The type of cyber-stalker who uses this tact is the dangerous vengeance stalker, so it is imperative that the unwitting third party "accomplice" form an alliance with the cyber-victim in order to stop the cyber-stalker from continuing with third party assaults.  The unsuspecting third party is technically also a cyber-victim of the cyber-stalker.  The cyber-stalker always picks unsuspecting third parties who are in positions of power over their victim.  Instead of assaulting their victim head on, the cyber-stalker will manipulate a third party to mount an "official and authorized" attack upon their prey.  The third party can be anything and anyone from the victim's net provider, to the victim's employer and associates, to government agencies.

damage control

Once the unsuspecting third party has been informed that they have
been duped, and were manipulated into investigating the cyber-stalker's cyber-victim, it then becomes their responsibility to redirect their attention
from the victim to the stalker.  The original complaint lodged by the cyber-stalker, regardless of whether it has stand-alone merit, must become a non-issue to the larger issue at hand.  This third party must
not, under any circumstances, drop the matter before they have either admonished, rebuked, reprimanded, reproved, chastised, or penalized the cyber-stalker for making them a party to a cyber-crime.  This single, all important offensive tactic can be instrumental in stopping the cyber-stalker in his tracks.

This same third party should also lend their support and follow through
in contacting other third parties that they might have inadvertently involved as part of the cyber-stalker's manipulation.  This is called damage control, and is absolutely necessary to stop the cyber-stalker's chain of harassment.  When everyone is on to the cyber-stalker's agenda, the cyber-stalker loses a large portion of his hunting grounds.  That, combined
with the involvement of the net providers,  puts most cyber-stalkers out of business.  This is most effective when the cyber-stalker is a known person who was using his job position as a tool to manipulate his third party victims.  In order to do the right thing, the unwitting third party must understand that there is no shame in being duped by this type of cyber-stalker.  The best of them will comes to terms with the situation, form an alliance with the cyber-stalker's cyber-victim, and do the right thing.  They've also learned a valuable lesson that they need to have protocols in place to protect themselves from becoming a pawn to this type of cyber-crime.  The worst of them won't do the right thing, and that is tantamount to endorsing a cyber-crime.
 
 

Researched and Written by
The Net Rangers Worldwide Team