Book excerpt: Violence Goes to the Internet provides the reader with a thorough understanding of the Internet and the potential dangers lying therein. The book identifies all of the different types of interpersonal violence and crime that may be encountered on the Internet, so that it can then be examined and placed in the context of how that violence manifests itself in the physical world. Readers will then be able to recognize and detect interpersonal violence and crime on the Internet and take the necessary steps to insulate and defend oneself from would-be cyber predators. A new approach to assessing violence and crime on the Internet is introduced, combining the technologies of criminal profiling, threat assessment, and risk assessments. This new approach, known as the Behavioral Risk Analysis of Violence Online (B.R.A.V.O.), is a behaviorally driven approach that can assess both known and unknown perpetrators across both physical and virtual landscapes, providing authorities with violence and crime risk levels, disruption levels, recommended target action, and investigative direction. The book also classifies crime and violence on the Internet into types and strains, allowing people to understand the motivation and behaviors of online perpetrators and to help detect and interpret behavior they observe online. This section of the book will also familiarize readers with general violence prevention and intervention principles, as well as safety and survival strategies. The second part of the book will familiarize readers with the different mediums and interfaces involved with the Internet and exemplify how those with violent or criminal intentions can exploit these mediums. In great detail, readers will be exposed to the major types of Internet violence and crime and will be given real-world examples of how violence and crime truly work on the Internet, hopefully expanding their detection and awareness abilities. The final section of the book highlights some of the difficulties faced by organizations, schools, colleges, business, law enforcement, and lawmakers in combating Internet violence and crime. In this section of the book, comprehensive steps are outlined for staying safe on the Internet.