In this episode, Tripwire’s Senior UX Researcher, Martina Dove, uses her psychology research to explain to us how the brain operates when presented with a cyberscam. She also discusses her model for identifying fraud susceptibility and what we can do to prevent falling for these scams.

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Tim Erlin: When we speak about cybersecurity, we often focus on many of the technical aspects of how to secure our businesses as well as our personal lives. Whether it is through a new device to guard the now-nebulous perimeter or a set of controls, there is no shortage of technical methods to secure the environment. Sadly, the topic of user awareness and more specifically the underlying psychology of cybercrimes is superficially discussed. Recently, I had the fortunate experience of speaking with Martina Dove, who is a senior User Experience (UX) researcher at Tripwire. She is also a psychologist with a background in fraud psychology, which gives her a deeper understanding about the mechanics of fraud—especially when it pertains to cybercrime. Welcome, Martina.

Martina Dove: Thank you, Tim. I’m really pleased to be here.

TE: The psychological aspect of cybercrime is fascinating, as it reveals a lot about human motivations. We often see its impact mentioned in many of the industry reports. For example, the most recent Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) points out that social engineering was the most common pattern of attack. You have actually developed a model of fraud susceptibility as part of your PhD. Can you tell us more about what drove you to decide to develop that model?

MD: Of course. I started my PhD, and I wanted to do something around the topic of gullibility because that is what I (Read more...)