· Cyber Security and cyber crime
· Phatic technology
· Surveillance (in areas such as predictive policing and criminal justice)
Victoria Wang
Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Zhejiang University
Dr. Victoria Wang has been engaging in the field of cybercrime and cybersecurity for nearly 20 years, starting from her academic studies, and with 14 years of dedicated research and academic work since completing her doctoral degree. Prior to joining Zhejiang University in August 2025, she held a long-standing position at the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (SCCJ) at the University of Portsmouth from 2013, with clear career progression: she served as a Lecturer (2013-2015), was promoted to Senior Lecturer (2015-2020), and later took on the role of Reader in Security and Cybercrime (Research Pathway) (2020-2023).
Her research expertise transcends disciplinary boundaries, seamlessly integrating criminology, social sciences, and computer science to address complex cyber challenges. This interdisciplinary rigour has yielded robust empirical insights, reflected in her academic output: 26 peer-reviewed papers (published in high-impact journals), 3 book chapters, and 9 official reports commissioned by the UK government - outputs that have become foundational references for both academic and policy communities. Her publications cover critical themes including cybersecurity governance, cybercrime deterrence, information security risk management, and socio-technical systems design, solidifying her reputation as a thought leader in bridging theory and real-world issues in digital societies.
Education Background
2005-2009 PhD Criminal Justice and Criminology, Swansea University, UK
2002-2005 BSc Computer Science, Swansea University, UK
Research Interests
Victoria has led and shaped several high-stakes research projects, securing substantial funding from competitive sources，such as the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the UK Home Office. A defining example is her 2015 collaboration with Ipsos Mori: she co-developed the project proposal that won the UK Home Office funding for the inaugural “Cyber Security Breaches Survey” (2016). As a core co-investigator for four consecutive years (2016-2019), she oversaw the design and execution of the survey, resulting in four landmark official reports. Today, this annual survey is not just an integral component of the UK Government’s “National Cyber Security Programme” - it is an Official Statistic endorsed by the UK Statistics Authority that directly informs policy decisions by quantifying business cybersecurity practices, the economic costs of cyber breaches, and the impact of cyber-attacks on national infrastructure.
In 2018, she played a key role as co-investigator for the Understanding the “UK Cyber Skills Labour Market” project - a flagship initiative commissioned by the UK government to support its “National Cyber Security Strategy“ (2016-2021). The project’s findings provided the first comprehensive mapping of the UK’s cyber skills gap, leading to targeted policy interventions to train and retain cyber talent. Another standout achievement is her EPSRC-funded project, “Data Release: Trust, Identity, Privacy and Security” (2016-2021). This research challenged the narrative of the UK’s “leading role” in open data by uncovering systemic gaps in the openness, privacy protections, and security of the UK’s Open Government Data (OGD).
Beyond government and council-funded projects, Victoria has led globally focused research that addresses cybercrime's diverse impacts across regions. Her work includes: investigating online and offline business fraud in the Netherlands; analysing cybersecurity vulnerabilities in Nigeria’s burgeoning internet banking sector; assessing cyber threats to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in South Korea; exploring UK victims’ perceptions of cybercrime severity; and studying cyberbullying in UK secondary schools.
As the first supervisor, Victoria has successfully guided 6 doctoral students to complete their theses - each addressing critical, understudied areas of cybercrime and security. Their theses covered a global range of cyber security challenges, from national regulatory frameworks in Vietnam and Nigeria to policing decisions in England and Wales. Their thesis titles are as follows:
1. A study of cybersecurity management within South Korean businesses: an examination of risks and cybercrime involving industrial security
2. Cybercrime in Vietnam: a critical analysis of its regulatory framework
3. Cybercrime: motivations, modes, and emerging trends with Nigeria as a case study
4. A Study of the Impact of Technology on Cybercrime in the Public and Private Sectors in Nigeria
5. What are the key determinants for a principled policing judgement call in England and Wales when investigating crime and incidents?
6. Stakeholders’ perceptions of security risks & emergency preparedness in the live events industry
Courses Taught
/
ResearchGate: Victoria Wang