Primary supervisor
Monica WhittyResearch area
CybersecurityOnline fraud, also referred to as cyberscams, is increasingly becoming a cybersecurity problem that technical cybersecurity specialists are unable to effectively detect. Given the difficulty in the automatic detection of scams, the onus is often pushed back to humans to detect. Gamification and awareness campaigns are regularly researched and implemented in workplaces to prevent people from being tricked by scams, which may lead to identity theft or conning individuals out of money. Whilst these interventions hold some promise they often fail due to ignoring human behaviours and predictors of vulnerability. Arguably, cybersecurity scholars need to learn much more about the methods criminals employ to trick victims out of money.
This PhD scholarship will extend upon Prof Whitty's work in this field to support a project that considers one of the following issues:
- Victimology of cyberscam victims
- Innoculation to cyberscams
- Examination of victims' cyberscam journeys
- Effective methods to change behavious to prevent cyberscam victimisation
Required knowledge
Cybersecurity is an interdisciplinary field. There is an urgent need to build up talent in human factors in cybersecurity. This PhD will provide the candidate with a unique pathway into industry or academia in an under-developed domain.
You will, therefore, need to have an honours degree or Masters in psychology or a related social science field (e.g., business studies, criminology, sociology). The reason for this is that the candidate will need to be trained in theories about humans and experimental methods.
Meet H1E requirements for Monash FIT PhD entry.
