Sextortion -- using nude 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 lurking in cyberspace.

 

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 minors, the predators are almost always men who prey on multiple targets, and almost all adult victims are women, it said. Most victims choose to stay anonymous, out of shame.

 

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.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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