>> you can almost trick yourself slim. >> need some inspiration in the new year? she was on top of the world then things went downhill. >> i realized at that moment that my run for the olympics was over. >> lindsey vaughn opens up about her grueling battle to make a come back, and love off the slopes with tiger woods. >> how did the relationship develop? >> olympian anomiemy. >> paralyzed in a devastating accident, she's determined to walk again. >> there is no being lazy around here. >> a first look at her new life at home and her new challenge. >> i'm on boararlowed time, i better make it awesome. >> and be prepared for whatever challenges the new year brings you. we'll show you how to survive, trapped in your car, trapped in your trunk. >> very easy. >> or even wrapped in duct tape. >> oh my gosh. >> this guy has control of my entire life right now and i don't know how to stop it. >> and computer hackers. we've seen the damage they can do. wait until you see what one did to her. >> so changing your clothes. >> i was completely naked. >> a new threat in the new year, keep it from happening to you. tonight, "starting over." good evening, i'm lester holt. as we start the new year, a special first hour of "date line" for you tonight. break new years resolutions already? we have tips to help you keep them and stories of people facing immense challenges and winning. we start with a new years resolution everybody makes, lose a few pounds. don't you wish there was a trick to doing it? maybe there is. >> it's the new year and we're throwing some parties, complete with food and drink but what our guests don't know, this is really a test to see if we can trick them into eating and drinking less. >> how we eat and how much has almost nothing to do how hungry we are. >> brian is an expert on eating behaviors and the author of "slim by design." to start over after the holidays, you don't need to rely on will power, there is an easy way. >> it's january and so many of us said i'm going to lose weight, eat less, drink less but you're saying that's the wrong attitude. >> you can almost trick yourself slim. it's about the order of the food, the size of the plate. that's how much we eat from 15 to 25%. >> you guys ready to eat? >> yeah. >> to test the theory, we invited everybody into lunch and split them into two groups. for the first group we layout the buffet like this, fruit and salad first, then fatty pasta at the end. we give them nine-inch plates smaller than normal and modest-sized serving spoons and right away, we see a pattern. they are piling on the healthy stuff, not much room left on the plate for the gooing pasta. >> why did you like the fruit? >> healthy. >> the first feed you see is a trigger food. it triggers every decision after that. if it's healthy, everything else will be more likely healthy. >> they have no idea but behind the scenes. >> six and a half pounds. >> we're tracking how much they eat. >> you guys ate healthy and had fruit and lettuce. >> we had seconds. >> when they are done, we reset for group two with some changes. now we'll switch the order of the food so the healthy stuff is at the back and fatty stuff at the beginning. >> we're giving group two slightly bigger plates and bigger serving spoons. okay. time to bring then in. remember, the food itself is exactly the same. >> i don't have enough room on my plate. >> they dig in. >> this mac and cheese is amazing. >> this is to die for this is the best. >> they are binging on that pasta because it's the first thing they see and that's the trigger food. >> exactly where you start in the buffet line matters. same thing at home. the food you see first at dinner changes everything. >> what we find is 70% of what people take end up being the first three foods they see. >> when they are finally full, we bring both groups together for the big reveal. >> we've been secretly weighing the food in the back to see what you guys ate. this group here with the bigger plate and the bigger spoon at 56% more food. >> wow. >> jaw dropping, i know, 56% more food. most of it pasta. the group with the smaller plate and the smaller spoon, an average of 890 calories per person in pasta and group number two with the bigger plate, 1520 calories per person in pasta alone. >> going to the gym today. starting a diet tomorrow. >> but it's not just food packing on the pounds. >> tremendous how many calories we take in drinking, 10% of what we drink before a meal. >> but he says we can cut the liquid calories but starting with something as simple as this, the shape of your glass. >> the shape, why? >> it's crazy, here is two glasses that hold the same but with a glass like this, you're going to pour 30% more in your short wide glass than a tall skinny glass because you don't account for the width. poor them and look for the but nobody poors looking at the width. >> can that make a difference? seeing is believing and you know i love to throw a party. for this bash we're serving up sugary punch and soda in tall, narrow glasses ready to be filled. meanwhile, i'm in the back with the professor watching it all. >> look at that filling it up half way. >> half way or 60%, they always stop there. it doesn't matter if they are a man or woman, it's all most the same. >> after 45 minutes, we cleared them out. then we invite a second group in. >> ready to party? >> yes. >> same drinks, different glasses, short, wide ones. >> the guy on the second glass, both glasses filled right to the top. >> exactly as you predicted. >> that's the second glass in like five minutes, too. >> okay. time to size up the damage. counting the empty bottles and pitchers from both crowds and crunches the numbers and break the news to the unsuspecting drinkers. first, we tell them how much punch they drank. >> group number one out of tall, skinny glasses 366 ounces of punch. your group out of the shorter glasses but wider drank 620 ounces -- [ laughter ] >> 70% more. [ cheers ] >> and that's not the worst of it. remember, there was soda here, too. >> but wait, there is more. group number one out of these tall skinny glasses have 34 ounces of soft drink, soda. your group had 112 ounces, that is 267% more. >> wow. >> party animals. >> it makes you think twice what kind of glass to serve at your party or home. >> by the way, same goes for alcohol, too. you tend to pour more into a wide red wine glass than a skinny white wine glass. it's simple, thinner glasses, smaller plates, thinner smaller you. >> i mean, it's really hard to become slim by will power because it's a 24-hour seven day a week thing so change your environment to become slim by design. >> i'll see you at this time next year 10 pounds lighter? >> deal. >> happy new year. >> coming up, amy van dyke in ruin beat the odds at olympics. she's determined to beat this. >> i'm now a paraplegic and i aim to not be one one day, that's what i am. >> a first look at her new life at home. also, how to get out alive. >> whoa. >> surviving the new year. fferers, but then, on the other side of the coin it's also delivering on the other attributes that patients want out of a sensitivity toothpaste delivering a complete package. i think dentists are going to want to recommend sensodyne complete protection. it's going to be a breath of fresh air for them. life lessons with ziploc. tomorrow's science project requires 150 cat's eye marbles. if this bag breaks emma's chance of impressing the teacher could slip away. life needs ziploc. sc johnson. the taste of light and fit greek non fat yogurt gives you the power to help make temptation shrink away! light and fit greek. with irresistible flavors like strawberry cheesecake never have 80 calories tasted so satisfying! light and fit greek. taste the power of satisfaction. ♪ dannon ♪ how can you see yourself in new glasses... without your glasses? at lenscrafters, our unique camera and screen system lets you compare yourself in four different frames at time. making sure all your vision choices are clear. lenscrafters loves eyes hey amanda sorry to bother you, but i gotta take a sick day. vo: moms don't take sick days, moms take dayquil. vo: the non drowsy coughing, aching, fever, sore throat, stuffy head power through your day medicine. now, you can get 30 gigs of data on 2-10 lines starting at $160 a month. everybody wins. he's superstitious on game day. you cannot say w-i-n. wait, "win"? so 30 gigs, that sounds like a lot. that's like 140 hours of video streaming. wow, that sounds like a win-win. what about a word like winter? yeah, winter's fine. it's just win. switch now and get 30 gigs of data starting at $160 a month. the year ahead has to be better for olympian amy van dyken, the champion swimmer spent five months recovering from a devastating accident. when you don't win six olympic gold medals by giving up on a dream. this time she's dreaming even bigger, she wants to walk again. here is matt lauer. >> this was amy van dyken rune last week riding last week. the story of how she got here is one of determination, hard work and courage. before this what was the biggest adversity you face in your life? >> i'm severe asthma, that's nothing compared to this, nothing. >> at the age of 41 amy is in the fight of her life. she was one of the greatest olympian champions of all time. >> i'm a parapa lee jik. >> it was an atv accident that damaged her spinal cord and left her paralyzed from the waste down down. this is the last picture of amy taken before the accident soaking up the sun with her dog. >> when i look at it now it breaks my heart because that was my old life. that was the last day of my old life, and the first day of my new life. hi, matt. >> how are you? >> doing awesome. >> i met up with amy and her husband three weeks after the accident. >> am i allowed to sit here? >> come on up. >> we talked about the mount she learned she would need dangerous surgery and might not survive. >> for some reason what jumped into your mind is tom. >> yeah, i wanted to tell him that if i don't make it, like live your life and, you know, move on. >> what was it like to hear those words come out of her mouth at that particular time? >> it was tough, and one of the things that i told her was if she wanted to -- if all this was too much and she wanted to go, she could go and i would understand. >> and that was tough to hear, but it was also, matt, a challenge. don't tell me i can't do something. don't tell me to give up. there is no being lazy around here. >> after surgery, amy dedicated herself to long punishing hours of rehab pushing through excruciating pain. >> i've got rods and i've got screws putting me together. you assume when you become paralyzed it's just all numb and it's not. i'm sitting here now and my legs feel like i'm stand income a fire. >> amy left the hospital in august. she was thankful, optimistic but worried what day to day living would be like back home in scottsdale, arizona. >> the way my house is right now, i will not be able to take a shower, even cooking i can't see if pots are boiling. i can't reach the faucet to do the dishes. >> i started looking into the changes that need to be made. i got in touch with george. >> george is george is host of the home improvement show "george to the rescue." amy didn't know anything about george and his army of volunteers doing the renovations and when she finally returned home three months to the day after her accident, it was overwhelming overwhelming. >> thank you for everything. amazing. >> because of all the changes, amy can do many of the simple things she used to take for granted. >> oh my gosh. >> now i can cook, i can do the dishes dishes. >> for her transportation tom wanted to trade in amy's camero for a van with a lift. >> no, no, no, the camero is sexy and rock 'n' roll and hello, sexy and rock 'n' roll is totally what i am. >> her welcome home tour ended in the garage where amy got the biggest surprise of all. >> ready to go. >> oh my gosh, are you kidding me? >> there was the camero retro fitted with hand controls, still hers to drive. >> you got your freedom back, babe. >> people don't understand when you pass me, you don't know i'm handicapped. that's the one time where i'm normal. >> but she wants so much more. >> you love to set goals, so what is your goal? >> to walk. >> doctors say it's unlikely she'll ever walk again but that's not stopping her from training harder than ever. >> i hate you. >> you can do it. go. >> amy says she's able to face the pain, the good day s and the bad bad, starting with her rock, her husband tom. >> he's the inspiration. >> together tom and amy want to inspire and help others. just last week tom and amy launched a new website and foundation to help people with spinal cord injuries. >> our mission is to give necessary medical equipment to people with spinal cord injuries that cannot afford it through their own means or insurance. >> for amy, it's the best way to give something back. >> i hope people can look at me and know listen, i'm going through what would be considered hell but doing it with a smile so maybe your monday morning meeting doesn't suck as bad as you think. >> everything is in perspective. >> yes, everything is in perspective. >> amy van dyken ruin knows something about perspective and what it takes to still be a champion. >> these are days i wasn't supposed to have, and i am here, so i'm on borrowed time, i better make it awesome. >> coming up, you can kick out a window and it's easier than most people think. >> how to make a great escape. >> yeah. >> also. >> i love my job, skiing with her. >> gold medalist lindsey vaughn after a string of setbacks she shows her grip and opens up about life after a ski with tiger woods. life lessons with ziploc. tomorrow's science project requires 150 cat's eye marbles. if this bag breaks emma's chance of impressing the teacher could slip away. life needs ziploc. sc johnson. sir, we're going to need you on the runway. 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(vo) theraflu. serious power. ♪"love is endless"♪ by mozella ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ it's not a new years resolution many people make, maybe they should, be ready for anything and as you'll see, we're not just talking about flat tires. here is andrea canning. >> there is something empowering about being prepared. even for circumstances that are unlikely to ever happen. recently we posted a web clip on how easy it is to break free from duct tape. the idea is from a story on "date line." this is extremely tight. the video went viral with more than 18 million views. >> one, two, three, oh my gosh it actually worked. our followers asked if there are other escape techniques to share so with the help of former cia officer jason hanson, we'll teach you how to escape from places and situations in ways you never thought possible. >> ready? >> yeah. >> okay. >> first a quick recap on how to get out of duct tape. our expert who teaches escape techniques through his spy escape and evasion company told us why it works. >> so you'll notice right now i'm tearing the duct tape. i tore it very easily. you can sit there and try to pull it apart but when you lift your hands high above your head and come down hard, you create a similar angel i created. >> one, two, three. >> there you go. >> is it just physics. >> it's creating the right angel to tear tape. >> after we posted the clip, our followers wanted to know what happens if you're duct tape from behind. >> you're very unlikely to do that because yaw can't get them closer together. >> so that would be more like a dumb criminal then to tape you from behind. >> exactly. >> you're going to pull a handout, lift one up high. >> okay, that was all of, what, one second? >> right. >> hanson says another material commonly used by criminals is rope, there is a trick for that, too. >> i'll show you how to escape in two seconds. tie me up and make it as tight as you want. all right. all i got to do is pull my hands out straight and shimmy and pull out. the secret is keep your elbows apart like this to create the false space, have your wrist curve out and pull one of your hands out of there. there you go. so, you know, less than 30 seconds and you're out. >> the odds of being tied up are small but here is something that really does happen. kids getting locked in trucks. in fact, so many children were inadvertently trapping themselves and dying that car manufacturers were mandateed to put in a safety release in all cars made after 2001 so anyone with kids, here is an escape to teach them. >> kids get in trunks playing hiding-o-seek. teach your kids this, just pull this down and they can get out. >> it seems pretty like it would be pretty easy for a kid, too. so i'm going to give it a try. the lever release is very obvious, glowing in the dark right in front of me. i'll put it and hopefully the door is up easy. there is another way to escape a trunk, especially in late model vehicles. newer cars have these leverers and pull them out and when you pull this out, it unlocks the seat to go kick it in or crawl through it. to show just how easy this is, i brought along two of my children to demonstrate. anna is five and charlie is four. we've left the backseats down so the girls aren't really locked in the trunk. see this, this will glow in the dark if the trunk was closed. okay? so it would light up. so pull it and this trunk will go open. okay. ready? think you can do it? >> yeah. >> okay. >> anna. >> pull the lever, good. look how easy that was. >> and they have no problem pulling the releases for the backseat. and crawling right through? nice job. >> and for our final escape, how to break a car window if you're ever trapped in your car after an accident or your car is submerged in water, here is what you need to do. >> kick out a window and it's easier than most think. what you want to do is kick out in this corner area right here. this is where the glass goes into the frame the tightest. don't kick it into the middle because it can absorb the kick more. >> i feel like this would be the natural spot. >> you want the glass the tightest so it's easier to shatter. >> we've heard about so many kids being trapped. what's the best way to get into that car. >> grab anything you can, a rock, pipe, same thing. hit in this area. >> this is really the sweet spot, then. >> yeah, right here. >> our expert says this works easily in older model cars but can be tougher in newer ones. >> sunglasses for any glass shattering. >> so here it goes. whoa, definitely wasn't as hard as i thought. >> awesome job. >> you were hitting right in that corner and that's exactly what you want to do. >> that was only three or four kicks. it is empowering, like you said, when you can figure outweighs to save yourself. >> heaven forbid it ever happens. >> coming up, this world ski championship crash could have put lindsey vaughn's career on ice. now making a big come back, she reveals the biggest challenges on the slopes. >> no matter what the situation, you can always turn it around. >> and off. >> how does that affect you the glare of the media spotlight on your relationship? also ahead. >> photos of me changing in my room. >> she had no idea when she opened up her laptop she opened up her entire life to a modern day peeping tom. >> it could happen to anybody. >> how to keep it from happening to you, when "date line" continues. removing up to ninety percent of surface stains and locking out future stains. so your smile always steals the show. and to get even faster whitening use this collection for a whiter smile in just 2 days. crest 3d white. life opens up with a whiter smile. how can you see yourself in new glasses... without your glasses? at lenscrafters, our unique camera and screen system lets you compare yourself in four different frames at time. making sure all your vision choices are clear. lenscrafters loves eyes life lessons with ziploc. tomorrow's science project requires 150 cat's eye marbles. if this bag breaks emma's chance of impressing the teacher could slip away. life needs ziploc. sc johnson. it may seem strange, but people really can love their laxative. especially when it's miralax. it hydrates, eases, and softens, to unblock your system naturally. so you have peace of mind from start to finish. love your laxative. miralax. ♪ the weather outside is frightful ♪ ♪ but the fire is so delightful ♪ [ male announcer ] nothing melts away the cold like a hot delicious bowl of chicken noodle soup from campbell's. ♪ let it snow, let it snow ♪ people across america are taking advantage of sprint's cut your bill in half event. what's that in your hand? um... my at&t bill. my verizon bill. what's the monthly rate? $85 about $160 what if sprint could cut your rate plan in half? i... would love to cut that in half. and give you unlimited talk and text in the u.s., and match your data. that's incredible. bring in your verizon or at&t bill, turn in your old phone and we'll cut your rate plan in half. visit us online or visit a sprint store today. >> if you're determined to turn things around this new year, we got inspiration for you. gold medal skier lindsey vaughn, she's been up, down and not long ago there was a moment when she might easily have been counted out. now, she's opening up about her battle back and the man she calls her inspiration, tiger woods. here is natalee morales. >> lindsey is in the gate. >> lindsey vaughn is the most successful female ski racer in american history. she's concurred every major alpine ski competition and has two olympic medals under her belt. hers is a career built on fearlessness and mental strength. >> every never had any fear of going fast. i always loved pushing myself. >> i'm sorry, i know it's a day off for you. >> we spent an afternoon with the 30-year-old in vail, colorado where she lives and trains. >> and i don't take any unnecessary risk. >> she opened up about her pain staking recovery from a devastating injury, new found confidence and an inner grid that never ever allowed her to give up. >> no matter what the situation, you can always turn it around. >> here we go. >> lindsey was practically born on skis. she got her first taste of the sport at the age of two. although, she says it was another take that initially drew her in. >> i think the thing back then i wanted to do is have hot chocolate and donuts with sprinkles on top. >> it wasn't long before her favorite thing was winning, her career guided by her father, lindsey racked up wins and accolades. by 2010 "sports illustrated" dubbed her america's best woman skier ever. the 5'10" blonde bombshell was noticed for more, all eyes on her as she skied her way to the olympic gold in vancouver in 2010. lindsey was officially a media darling. the endorsements rolled in. her face and that killer body were everywhere. but privately she was suffering as her marriage to thomas vaughn, her coach and manager was falling apart. >> it's difficult to have a relationship with you're married and also working together. >> the couple announced they were divorcing in 2011. >> were you afraid to be on your own at all? >> yeah, i was definitely a little afraid to be on my own. i questioned myself whether i could do it without someone by my side. i had my best season after the divorce. >> for the first time in her life, lindsey was calling the shots. >> i'm finally responsible for my own life and it's a really empowering feeling. >> she was expected to be a big star at the sochi olympics but then came february 2013, the world ski championship austria. during an extended weather delay, the snow on the course had changed. >> it was soft and slushy and i went off the jump in the middle of the course and landed on the slap. >> vaughn over the top. >> it stopped my skis dead in the tracks and i flipped over and my knee was gone in a split second. >> lindsey did as much damage to a knee as one could do. she soon under went knee reconstructive surgery. lindsey decided to chronical that surgery and her painful rehab process for an upcoming documentary to air an nbc. though the odds were against her. lindsey spent the better part of the next year training for the sochi games, but when she got hurt again at the world cup in france, she knew she wouldn't make it. >> i realized at that moment that my run for the olympics was over. >> devastated but still determined, she pushed ahead through yet another surgery and more rehab and by her side offering support was a new lfer tiger woods. >> how did the relationship develop? >> we were friends for a long time and one thing led to another. >> the two had a lot in common. both trained relentlessly from an early age. dating tiger jolted lindsey into a whole new fame and scrutiny. >> how does that affect you, the glare of the media spotlight on your relationship. >> i don't know. in the beginning it was difficult. it was not what people expected but i didn't really care what anyone else thinks as long as we're happy, that's what matters. >> have you gotten tiger on skis yet? >> yeah, he's really good, yeah, yeah. >> just last month she made her come back with a win. at the world cup downhill race in alberta. >> lindsey vaughn is in the lead once again in canada. >> it was incredible. finally, i'm back. >> lindsey followed that up with another world cup win in france, putting her just one win away from tieing the all-time record of 62 world cup wins. so what does the future have in store for lindsey? wedding bells again? unlikely she says. >> it's almost like when you get married you have a feeling of being trapped, no offense. [ laughter ] >> none taken. >> check the marriage box and i think i'm good for right now. [ laughter ] >> what about children? >> yeah, i definitely want children. that's something i would love to have in the future. >> if she has her way, she'll have more olympic gold to show them some day. >> i'm going to be in the next olympics in 2018. i feel like i need another chance. >> yeah! i love my job, skiing with her. >> lindsey plans to continue to push to excel and most importantly, to ski and live by her own rules. >> i overcame this, and i'm at the top again, and it makes me just that much more appreciative of what i have now and how far i've come. >> injury won't stop you? >> no, nothing will stop me. i swear. >> and you can watch lindsey vaughn, the climb, sunday january 20th here5th on nbc. coming up. >> you must have thought who could have taken these photos. >> hacked in her bedroom and you won't believe how. >> this guy completely took everything i worked for. >> see how she fought back. ♪ know when to run. ♪ ♪ you never count your money, ♪ ♪ when you're sitting at the ta...♪ what? you get it? i get the gist yeah. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. life lessons with ziploc. tomorrow's science project requires 150 cat's eye marbles. if this bag breaks emma's chance of impressing the teacher could slip away. life needs ziploc. sc johnson. olivia. super hungry? get my chipotle chicken club combo. it's got the chipotle sauce you love and spicy crispy chicken. you get it with fries and a drink for just $4.99. that's a ton of food. let's do this. computer security should be up there on the list of things you're checking in the new year. remember what happened to jennifer lawrence? a hacker posted her intimate photos online for the world to see and that same crime could easily happen to you. here is kate snow. ♪ ♪ >> cassidy wolf had been dancing since she was two years old. what's the feeling when you're in the zone? >> it's like nothing can stop me, honestly. >> and not much did stop her. the teenager from california blazed through high school. she got good grades, stocked up dance trophies and tried her hand at beauty pageants and won. >> miss california teen usa 2013. >> but something happened to cassidy not so long ago, an attack that made the dancing stop, that made her want to hide away. >> this guy completely took everything that i had worked for. i felt like he took it all away. it was gone. >> it began with the click of a computer mouse and terrified not just cassidy but her friends and family, too. it feels like part of what happened to you, cassidy, is you lost some of your innocence about the world. >> definitely. >> cassidy never expected to be a victim in march 2013, the 18-year-old was busy juggling college classes with her public appearances as miss california teen usa and prepping for the big prize, miss teen usa. >> at that point i was a freshman in college, a full-time student and on my dance team. >> were you sleeping at all? >> i was trying. i'm a night owl so i would spend my night looking up pageant gowns or swim suites or whatever. >> and she did her browsing on a beat up pink laptop, the same one from high school. >> open all the time. >> open all the time. my music constantly play sglg what she didn't know was that someone was watching her, cassidy's first clue something was wrong, a message from facebook. >> i got a notification that somebody tried to log into my facebook account and change my password. >> and then half an hour later, the e-mail that changed everything. it was from a complete stranger and began with a taunt you really should have made your password better, anyone could guess dancer. >> at the bottom of the e-mail, there was two photos of me changing in my room. >> wait, two photos of you changing your cloths. >> yeah. >> so half naked. >> yeah, i was completely naked. you couldn't see my face but one looked like i had a towel wrapped around my upper body so you could see my lower body and another walking into my bedroom. >> you must have thought who could have taken these photos? >> i was so confused. no idea and it took a couple seconds to sink in, okay, so they are taken on my webcam on my computer. >> it's a threat cassidy read for us. >> i can upload these picks and more and your dreams of being a model will be transform into a porn star. >> the writer wanted her to send in more photos or a video and video chat with him and do whatever she told her. if she didn't, he would pushblish the photos he took of her, extortion pure and simple. >> i was just screaming, not saying anything but just screaming thinking to myself this guy has control of my entire life right now and i don't know how to stop it. >> cassidy immediately told her mother, mary. >> why would somebody do this? >> mary called the police and a few days later handed over cassidy's laptop to an fbi special agent julie patton for examination. she saw it had malware and had no idea who the hacker might be. >> in the beginning days and weeks, there were a lot of dead ends and it was frustrating. >> and his e-mails kept come sglg i'm ing. >> i'm not going to stop, ever. >> he was attacking me one e-mail after another, all caps saying, you know, curse words, you know, it was violent. he was violently attacking me and threatening me with the photos. >> the hacker set deadlines for cassidy, told her a clock was ticking if she didn't respond to him within a certain amount of time, he would post the photos and finally he did. a picture of cassidy in her underwear on her twitter page. on another website, a video he made of her taking off her shorts. >> it was disgusting. >> you must have felt helpless. >> totally, totally helpless. the worst part is we got other pictures and could put together maybe how long this had gone on. he had watched my daughter, it looks like, a year, silently watched her. >> the ceo of ssp blue a company that advices government and corporations on cybersecurity issues. he said hackers use software called a rat, short for remote access technology to infect their victims' computers. >> so if i installed a rat on my computer, i will send your computer a message and once you click on it, i will now own your computer. it's called slaving your computer. >> what can you do? >> i can turn on your webcam. i can log all the passwords, i can in fact log everything you're doing. >> knowing more about the technology behind the attack on cassidy didn't make her mom feel any better. >> i couldn't sleep for months because i was terrified he was going to come to the house. >> cassidy and her family wondered if there was anything they could do to fight back against their invisible tormenter. >> coming up, cassidy isn't the only target. >> e-mails kept coming and it was horrible and horrifying. >> soon, she will find a way to battle back in a very public way. >> she wasn't a victim any longer. >> when "dateline" continues. and snoring? sleep number's even got an adjustment for that. only at a sleep number store find the lowest prices of the season, with the c3 queen mattress set only $1199.98. plus 24 month special financing on all beds. know better sleep with sleep number. when the game's on the line. hit him with a hard count, see if they'll tip their hand. the nfl trusts duracell quantum to their game day communication. they're blitzing up the gut! get out of the pocket! hut! duracell quantum. lasts up to 35% longer than the competition. at olive garden we're bringing new things to the table. like new citrus chicken sorrento. part of our 575 calories or less lighter italian fare menu. enjoy fresh tossed go fish and taste the lighter side of delicious. at olive garden. i've smoked a lot and quit a lot but ended up nowhere. now...i use this. the nicoderm cq patch with unique extended release technology helps prevent the urge to smoke all day. i want this time to be my last time. that's why i choose nicoderm cq. you give... and you give... and then you give some more. but sometimes you get. and so you take. tylenol® cold is strong enough for you while children's tylenol® is gentle enough for them. we give you relief from your cold and flu. you give them everything you've got. tylenol®. engineers build, farmers grow, artists create, but teachers they do it all. they build minds, they help children grow and they create leaders. make an impact on a child's life. get into teaching. the more you know. >> cassidy wolf is being targeted by a hacker, someone that's taken control of her webcam to spy on her. now she's about the summon the courage to fight back by doing what few hacking victims are willing to do, again, kate snow. >> cassidy wolf was living in fear, fear of someone she couldn't even see, a computer hacker who was threatening to ruin her life. >> i thought it was just some creepy guy, you know, half way across the world who does this all the time. >> somebody who doesn't know you. >> basically a monster is what i create in my head. >> a few weeks after his first e-mail thanks monster ups the pressure on cassidy telling her he slaved other computers, too, people cassidy knew from high school like jenny. >> e-mails kept coming, i got seven that first night paragraph after a paragraph after paragraph saying things about my friends, saying i've been watching you for over a year now, i have all your information. i've been taking pictures of you. >> like he had with cassidy, the hacker threatened to post naked photos of jenny online. she didn't give into his demands but agent patton found other people who had and what he made them do was chilling. one 17-year-old undressed for him on scape. >> before it started she said have a heart i'm 17 and his response is i have no heart. >> i want to know your response when you figured out he's going after your friends. >> i blamed myself. >> you felt guilty? >> i felt like he set up up to the way he was doing it to make me feel guilty and i did. i felt like this is my fault. when it wasn't at all. >> cassidy made a bold decision, she decided to go public with her story. >> california, come on down. >> during the final of the miss teen usa pay get, cassidy told the audience what had happened to her. >> he was able to tap into my webcam and took pictures of me in my bedroom. >> we didn't know she was going to say that and it really was a stepping stone from god and just gave her a place to put her voice and at that point, she wasn't a victim any longer. >> cassidy's hacker was still at large. was she watching in spite of everything she had been through she was crowned miss teen usa. >> how exciting was that moment? >> it was so exciting. i couldn't breathe. i was crying and all i could think in my head is oh my god, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, where is my mom? >> and then another victory after pain staking work, special agent patton was able to link the hack tore a physical address, not on the other side of the world as cassidy suspected but in her hometown. >> it's fantastic, we got somebody local. >> she just had to look in cassidy's high school yearbook to find a photo of the hacker. his name was jared abrahams and he had been her classmate. you had in your head it was some stranger millions of miles away, it's not. >> no. >> it's a guy that went to your high school. >> and that's the creepiest part. the creepiest part is he was so close to me and we were in the same school. he was probably in the hallways. >> cassidy's hacker confessed everything and said he slaved more than 100 computers. >> horribly uncomfortable face-to-face with people and this is the one area of my life where i'm comfortable. >> but the hacker's defense attorney said abrahams was no computer whiz, so how had the teenager managed to victimize so many people. >> jared was teaching himself to be a hacker. >> investigators found out cassidy's hacker made several visits to a website where people cannot only swap tips how to slave computers, they can buy and sell computer slaves. >> he was asking and then asking more questions and asking more questions and interestingly, people kept helping him. >> later, he boasted about cassidy, the model he had snared. it just seems crazy to me people would be openly discussing this stuff right on a forum online. do they feel like nobody is going to catch them? nobody is going to care? >> if you look back, let's even take the last five years. we can count in one hand the number of cases that have actually been prosecuted. >> one obstacle is unlike cassidy, victims are often reluctant to come forward with their stories. >> cassidy took the first step which is often the hardest which is telling somebody. >> almost a year to the day after she received that first threatening e-mail, cassidy drove with her mom to court. she was nervous. >> i'm really dreading this right now. >> she was going to watch her hacker plead guilty to three counts of extortion and one count of unauthorized computer access. he apologize many guisedied for the harm and a judge sentenced him to 1 months in prison. cassidy came out of court ready to put this behind her. >> you've said you don't want this to define the rest of your life, obviously. >> no. >> you don't want to give him control over your life. >> no. i want to be able to move on from this, but i think i already have. have. >> after her year as miss teen usa, cassidy is going back to school to study broadcast journalism. >> i now protect my online privacy. >> and she's become an advocate for hacking victims working for a security software company to raise awareness about cybersecurity and speaking at schools to tell other teenagers what she's learned. >> if something like this happens to some other girl out there, if she getsen an e-mail saying i've got

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