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CASEScontact - solutions, tools & skills against latest security, cybercrime, hacking & malware threats
Just the facts
     
Title   CASEScontact.org guide: how to best stay safe in chat rooms
Description  

Weeding out the stalkers or malicious users with CASEScontact.org's safe chat guide that tells you how to:

  1. use chats safely and securily,
  2. protect your privacy effectively, while
  3. minimizing the chance of falling victim to a phishing attack and identity theft(see Tips and Tidbits)

Get through the above three steps in 15 minutes or less at no cost to you.
CyTRAP LABs ID   CT210004
Date   2005-02-21
Systems affected  
  • Windows/2000/NT/XP etc.
  • Mac OS 10.xx (Jaguar, Panther)
  • Linux, Ubuntu, etc.
Version number   1.1
ISSN   1603-9866
Verify tip   http://casescontact.org/tips/210004
Risk assessment   High
Impact/Severity   High
 

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What's up?
     
   
Real life scenario Internet & PC scenario
What is the threat or vulnerability?    
1) When you travel across a busy street there are some precautions you take in order to avoid being hit by a car or a cyclist.

2) When you meet somebody at a bar you do not tell them all your personal secrets within the first five minutes

 A) Like meeting people anywhere, you need to be careful what kind of information you provide to people when you chat with them.

B)Whatever you say in a chatroom may be archived somewhere (e.g., Google search) for a very long time, hence, never believe that what you type may not be found by somebody whom you might not want to know about the information.

 
 

Problem & Solution
     
What does it mean to me? Am I vulnerable?  

  • A) Threat is that your privacy could be compromised by somebody by just:

    1) telling them your name,

    2) giving them other personal information (e.g., your gender)

  • B) Vulnerability is that your identity could be misused for ununathorized activities by another party (e.g., pretending to be you and playing a prank on somebody) = Identity Theft.

  • C) Impact of this could be that because information is being archived the effects could be very much long term such as:

    • 1) getting asked by your peers years after it happened why you ever discussed something that 'embarassing' in a chat room (its public or worse they found it on a search engine), and

    2) the person you chatted with may have passed on your message/chat gibberish to somebody else and either he/she or others may use such information to

  • embarass you, or play
  • pranks (e.g., hoax phone call) or worse,
  • using the e-mail you provided in the chat room harass you with spam mail, or
  • send you pictures you feel uncomfortable about.
    •      
    If I fix the problem - will it help me?
    How    		  

    There is no way that you can avoid the archiving issue (once said, always stored somewhere). But you can keep your wits about yourself and refrain from doing anything silly. Most importantly, you can select your chat room following these guidelines and making a wise choice using criteria such as:

    1) Is the chat forum focused - on a specific topic I am interested in?

    2) Does the forum have a moderator who checks and makes sure everybody follows netiquette (i.e. behaves appropriately)?

    Using the above criteria will limit your grief with a chat forum member and, most importantly, save you time. The less focus a forum has the more likely the postings lack the beef or substance you may want.

         
    How can one describe the solution?  

    To avoid trouble or wasting time, be smart and visit a topic relevant chatroom only (see also above suggestion).

    Use a special or non-permanent e-mail address for your chat (e.g., get one from a web-based mail service such as Web.de, hotmail.com, bluewin.ch), so if you get too much spam or other undesirable messages to this account you you can just cancel it or let it expire.

    While registering or to other chat members, do not provide/use or hand-out a more permanent e-mail address to better protect your privacy.

         
    Does Microsoft offer me a solution?  
    There is no solution available from MS regarding some of the problems outlined in this Tip. All you can do is be careful and to mimimize your potential risks, stay away from most if not all chat rooms unless they are very focused (e.g., modern jazz, 16th century literature).
         
    Where can I get more help?  
    National pages for Europe regarding safer Internet and chat rooms with tips and tricks can be found here:

    http://www.safer-internet.net/NationalPagesFront.asp

     


    What is the solution to this problem ?
         
    Tip 1  

    General Tips

  • If you receive a chat message that makes you feel uncomfortable, do not respond

    Also there are two more risks you must consider when being in chat rooms, namely:

    1) Whenever you give somebody the mobile number one can contact you anytime and anywhere. This can allow bullies to harass you or your child by text messaging or phone calls. A caller may also pressure you in meeting face-to-face.

    2) Pictures sent via the mobile as taken in a disco or on a public transport system by friends can make you or your child identifiable to strangers and may also give your location away. They are optional features in chat rooms but one should not put up a picture.
       
    •      
    Tip 2  

    General Issue Regarding Chat Forums

    You should also keep in mind that there is an inherent incivility to the internet, which is magnified in chat rooms. It is all too easy sometimes even fun, to bang something off, which may be defamatory or worse, without contemplating the consequences.

    While the chatroom did not invent incivility, however, the lack of accountability for what appears online allows anybody in a chatroom to be as:

  • wordy,
  • vicious or
  • rude and
  • unscrupuluous

    • as one likes.

    Hence, you need to have a thick skin sometimes to brush off potential attacks against your opnion or just you as a person. Also remember, often 10% of the people in the forum do most of the participating such as stating their opinion. A vast majority may be silent. Again, the more focused the chat room the more focused will the contributions be.
     
         
    Tip 3   Watch Out - Mobiles and Internet Chat

    1) Whenever you give somebody the mobile number one can contact you anytime and anywhere. This can allow bullies to harass you or your child by text messaging or phone calls. A caller may also pressure you in meeting face-to-face.

    2) Pictures sent via the mobile as taken in a disco or on a public transport system by friends can make you or your child identifiable to strangers and may also give your location away. They are optional features in chat rooms but one should not put up a picture.

    Better Safe than Sorry

  • Do not take people at face value - they may not be what they seem (e.g., claim to be a teenager while, instead being a 40 year old adult),

  • Talk to people (e.g., adults, friends, parents, siblings) about what you do and who you meet while chatting,

    •    
     


    Take another 2 minutes - More tricks to safeguard your information better
         
    Tidbit 1  

    Please remember, if you see a chat room called 'Suicide Ideology' or something similarly strange/weird in the title, it is probably neither discussing an issue that deals with one of your hobbies or interests, nor safe to join. Members of such a group are likely to be somewhat deranged or strange, why else would one discuss such a topic?

    Best to stay away from chat forums that are not highly focused or targeting a particular subject

    If you want to chat with a person, don't do it in the chat forum but do it offline, or best send them an e-mail. Others may be annoyed about such 'private' messages or simply feel you are wasting everybody else's time.... flaming could result thereoff (see further below for definition of flaming).
       
    Tidbit 2  

    If you need help, the European Union is funding a project that provides hotlines in all Member States, for a list of phone numbers and advice sites, please visit:

    http://www.inhope.org/
       
    Tidbit 3  

    If you are interested in making the Internet safer for a child you may visit the FBI site where you find an English and Spanish guide -- how to improve safety on the Internet including chatrooms.

    http://www.fbi.gov/publications/pguide/pguide.htm/

    Get a German translation of the above guide here:

    http://www.blinde-kuh.de/fbitips.html
       
    Watch out  

    Just for clarification - chat rooms are also called 'online forums.' Generally the participants remain anonymous, using nicknames or pseudonyms to identify themselves online.

    Nice Facts that You Should Know About

    In chat rooms one may also experience flaming. Flaming on the Internet started in the Usenet groups. As such a flame in the social context of a discussion board or chat room tends to be:


  • hostile, insulting or derrogatory,
  • not intended to be constructive, nor
  • clarify a discussion, or
  • persuade other people, nor
  • is it dialectic but, instead, more likely it
  • has a social or psychological motive.

    • Flamers are attempting to assert their:

  • authority, or
  • establish a position of superiority or occasionally, a flamer may want to
  • upset and offend other members of the forum (in this case the person is sometimes also called a troll).

    • Being Constructive - Not Flaming - Watch out for Bullies

    Similarly, a normal, non-flame message may have elements of a flame – it may be hostile or be perceived derrogatory by other members of the forum.
    Nonetheless it is not a flame if it is is seriously intended to advance the discussion.

    Bullies may also sometimes flame or upset others on purpose or out of pure ignorance.

    Some people behave inappropriately in chat rooms, so watch out for:

  • Bullies - people who might enagage in abusive, thretening or harassing behaviors toward you or your child.

  • Paedophiles - individuals who may attmpt to extract personal contact details from youi or your child, with a view to meeting the person in the real world.

    • More info about flaming can be found here:

    http://www.advicemeant.com/flame/

    http://www.godsoframen.com/leek/flaming.html

    Finally, remember unless the chat room is very focused, you can quickly loose plenty of time that you could use more effectively (e.g., sleeping, playing with your kid). The later the evening, sometimes, the weaker the contributions from tired members seem to get ... little beef is being added.   
     


    CYTRAP resources - check it out - because it will help you better protect yourself
         

    Administrative
         
    Author   Urs E. Gattiker - CyTRAP Labs
         
    Revisions  
  • 1.0 - 2005-02-21 - First Version
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