The accused contacted the victim over a chat room posing as a teenager. Few days later he allegedly sent her a file claiming to be his photograph, which in fact contained a Trojan Backdoor. No sooner had the girl downloaded and opened the file than the attacker gained control of her computer via IRC channels, the report says. Thereafter the man allegedly threatened and blackmailed the victim, forcing her into submission and abuse, the report adds.

Arti Taru, security expert at MicroWorld Technologies, says: Trojan backdoors can be employed by remote attackers to takeover a victims computer and to execute programs, reboot the system, open files, open Webpages, download files, launch and manage a proxy server on the victims machine and so much more. It is as if the intruder is operating his own desktop with no constraints.

At Inner London Crown Court last week, Ringland reportedly admitted 20 charges of Internet abuse, while fourteen similar charges were ordered to lie on file. Judge Nicholas Philpot deferred sentence until October, and Ringland was remanded in custody.

While the explicit details of the criminal operation have yet to be revealed, Taru says webcams can be used to pry and prey on every moment in the life of a targeted user. Candid shots taken that way can be used as a blackmailing tool by Internet predators to exploit underage victims and worse, lead them to child pornography rackets.