Grooming
Definition
The phased manipulation of a target, usually a child or vulnerable adult, into a state of compliance with sexual or exploitative contact. Online grooming typically runs through five stages.
Related terms
- I4C
- Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre, the central node under the Ministry of Home Affairs running the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (cybercrime.gov.in), state cyber...
- Online Disinhibition Effect
- John Suler's 2004 concept that humans behave with reduced restraint online compared with face-to-face, driven by six factors that loosen accountability and...
- Operational Persona
- The identity an offender uses to commit offences online: vendor handles, anonymous accounts, criminal communication channels. Usually OPSEC-disciplined.
- OPSEC
- Operational security, the set of practices an offender uses to keep operational and personal personas separated. Common slips include reused usernames, reused...
- Personal Persona
- The identity an offender uses for daily life: social media, banking, ordinary messaging. Usually OPSEC-undisciplined and the seam through which attribution happens.
Explained in
- Criminal Behaviour on the Internet (Cyber-Profiling)The phased manipulation of a target, usually a child or vulnerable adult, into a state of compliance with sexual or exploitative contact. Online grooming typic...