A victim could blurt out personal information which attackers could use for identity theft, or peeping toms could secretly record footage with the intention of blackmailing the unwitting victim.

Or, such a scheme may begin with a seemingly innocuous online "friend" request, or a comment by a chat room buddy.Such a request or comment may lead to flirtation, which then results in the victim's transmitting compromising photos to the online "friend." Once those photos have been turned over, the "friend" has leverage to get more compromising photos, and/or to demand money to keep the photos secret.Such schemes are common enough that they now have a name: Getting sensitive personal and sexual information from an Internet user and using it against that person is referred to as "sextortion." In this column, I will describe the new phenomenon of sextortion; explain why such conduct is illegal under existing law; and discuss what steps Internet users -- including teens and their parents -- can take to avoid being the victim of a sextortion scheme.If a hacker takes control of a computer, he may be able to control the webcam and microphone.Thus, he can peer into the computer user's bedroom, hear his target's conversations, and know every keystroke she makes online.