网络"性敲诈"猖獗 受害者多为青少年

 Sextortion -- using nude² photos of someone to press for even racier content or other goods -- is surprisingly common, a US think tank says in what it calls the first in-depth study of another danger lurking³ in cyberspace⁴.

美国一家智库称，“性敲诈”行为——利用一些人的裸照获取更不雅的内容或者其他东西——惊人地普遍。该智库称，这是为网络空间的另一大潜在危害所做的首份深度研究。

Most victims are minors⁵, the predators⁷ are almost always men who prey⁸ on multiple targets, and almost all adult victims are women, it said. Most victims choose to stay anonymous⁹, out of shame.

研究称，大多数受害者都是青少年，而侵害者几乎总是对多个目标下手的男子，而且几乎所有的成年受害者都是女性。大多数受害者都选择匿名以免丢脸。

And while US law enforcement officials acknowledge the problem, no agency or advocacy group keeps data on it, said the Brookings Institution, which published the study on Wednesday.

布鲁金斯学会11日发布了这项研究结果，称尽管美国执法官员承认这一问题，但还没有机构或者利益团体追踪这方面的数据。

性敲诈

Even the term 'sextortion' is not a real word, but rather slang that prosecutors¹⁰ use to refer to an offense¹¹ that does not fit neatly¹² into a single category.

甚至就连“性敲诈”也并非一个真正的词，而是检察官使用的一个俗语，用来代指不完全符合任何一个类别的侵害行为。

"Legally speaking, there's no such thing," the report states.

报告称，“从法律上讲，并没有‘性敲诈’这个罪名。”

Sextortion can entail¹³ a hack¹⁴ into someone's computer to rob a sexy picture or video or take over a webcam, then the use of this content to extort¹ victims for even more.

性敲诈可以通过侵入某人的电脑窃取色情照片或者视频，或者侵入网络摄像头，然后利用这些内容对受害者进行敲诈。

It is even more common for perpetrators to resort to social media to elicit¹⁵ a photograph from a victim, then use it to demand more.

更常见的情况是，犯罪者通过社交媒体获取受害者的照片，随后进行敲诈。

The Brookings Institution said it studied 78 cases from recent years that met its definition of sextortion and many others that contained elements of it.

布鲁金斯学会研究了近年发生的符合其“性敲诈”定义的78起案例，以及其它诸多含有“性敲诈”因素的案例。

Those cases involve at least 1,379 victims. But for a variety of reasons -- such as prosecutors not seeking out all victims of a given predator⁶ -- the true number of victims from those 78 cases could actually range from 3,000 to 6,500 or even more, the study said.

这些案例中的受害者至少有1379位。但由于多种原因，比如检察官并没有找出遭受某一位侵害者侵害的所有受害者，这78起案例的受害者真实人数可能会达到3000到6500人，甚至更多。

One involved a woman who opened an email from an unknown sender and found sexually explicit¹⁶ photos of herself, data about her job, husband and three kids, and a demand for a porno¹⁷ video of her.

在其中一起案例中，一名女子打开一封来路不明的邮件，而后发现了她自己的不雅照，还有有关她的工作、丈夫和三个孩子的资料，发信人还要求获得她的情色视频。

Vocabulary

think tank: 智库，智囊团

in-depth study: 深入研究

1 extort   

v.勒索，敲诈，强要

参考例句：

• The blackmailer tried to extort a large sum of money from him.勒索者企图向他勒索一大笔钱。
• They absolutely must not harm the people or extort money from them.严格禁止坑害勒索群众。

2 nude   

adj.裸体的；n.裸体者，裸体艺术品

参考例句：

• It's a painting of the Duchess of Alba in the nude.这是一幅阿尔巴公爵夫人的裸体肖像画。
• She doesn't like nude swimming.她不喜欢裸泳。

3 lurking   

潜在

参考例句：

• Why are you lurking around outside my house? 你在我房子外面鬼鬼祟祟的，想干什么？
• There is a suspicious man lurking in the shadows. 有一可疑的人躲在阴暗中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 cyberspace   

n.虚拟信息空间，网络空间，计算机化世界

参考例句：

• She travels in cyberspace by sending messages to friends around the world.她利用电子空间给世界各地的朋友们发送信件。
• The teens spend more time in cyberspace than in the real world of friends and family.青少年花费在电脑上的时间比他们和真正的朋友及家人在一起的时间要多。

5 minors   

n.未成年人( minor的名词复数 )；副修科目；小公司；[逻辑学]小前提v.[主美国英语]副修，选修，兼修( minor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors. 法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had three minors this semester. 这学期他有三门副修科目。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 predator   

n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者

参考例句：

• The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
• Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。

7 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

9 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

10 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

11 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

12 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

13 entail   

vt.使承担，使成为必要，需要

参考例句：

• Such a decision would entail a huge political risk.这样的决定势必带来巨大的政治风险。
• This job would entail your learning how to use a computer.这工作将需要你学会怎样用计算机。

14 hack   

n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳

参考例句：

• He made a hack at the log.他朝圆木上砍了一下。
• Early settlers had to hack out a clearing in the forest where they could grow crops.早期移民不得不在森林里劈出空地种庄稼。

15 elicit   

v.引出,抽出,引起

参考例句：

• It was designed to elicit the best thinking within the government. 机构的设置是为了在政府内部集思广益。
• Don't try to elicit business secrets from me. I won't tell you anything. 你休想从我这里套问出我们的商业机密, 我什么都不会告诉你的。

16 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

17 porno   

n.春宫，色情画；色情文学，电影等

参考例句：

• They say she was in a porno movie,with a member of the local police department.他们说她跟本地警察局里的一个人拍过春宫电影。
• The local porno shop has been shut down for selling materials to minors.当地的色情商店因向未成年人出售色情物品而被关闭。