Personal profile
Research interests
Dr Emma Walker is a Chartered Psychologist who has worked across the academic, public and private sectors to apply psychological theory and research to digital security challenges.
She completed her PhD in applied cognitive psychology at Cardiff University in 2012 and has undertaken applied research roles at BAE Systems, DSTL, UKSA, and ONS. She has also previously held a lectureship and Vice-Chancellor's Fellowshop in Digital Innovation and Wellbeing at University of Bristol. Prior to returning to academia in 2026, she was Principal Workforce Exercising SME at Immersive, an enterprise cyber resilience platform.
Her primary research interests are focused on understanding and countering online risks applied to security contexts, with specific interests in:
- Threats and implications of generative AI within a social engineering context, including phishing, deepfake-based fraud etc.
- How to effectively reduce these risks in different populations, both from a user-centred design and engagement perspective and a governance perspective.
- The benefits and limitations of human-AI partnership in addressing security risks.
Education/Academic qualification
Psychology, Doctor of Social Science, Lies and Cognition: How do people tell lies and can we detect them?, Cardiff University
1 Oct 2008 → 1 Jul 2012
Award Date: 1 Feb 2013
Psychology, Bachelor of Science, Dissertation - Fear of Pain and Attentional Bias: A dot-probe task, University of Bath
1 Oct 2003 → 2 Jul 2007
Award Date: 2 Jul 2007
Keywords
- BF Psychology
- Social psychology
- Human factors
- Cyber security
- Influence
- Deception
- Human-computer interaction
- Cyber crime
- Online behaviour
- Phishing & Scams
- Criminological Psychology
- Organisational behaviour
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
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Research output
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Developing a measure of information seeking about phishing
Walker, E. & Joinson, A. N., 2020, In: Journal of Cybersecurity. 6, 1, 16 p., tyaa001.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access32 Link opens in a new tab Citations (SciVal) -
“It wouldn't happen to me”: Privacy concerns and perspectives following the Cambridge Analytica scandal
Hinds, J., Williams, E. J. & Joinson, A. N., 30 Nov 2020, In: International Journal of Human-Computer Studies. 143, 102498.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile186 Link opens in a new tab Citations (SciVal)220 Downloads (Pure) -
A Model of Trust Manipulation: Exploiting Communication Mechanisms and Authenticity Cues to Deceive
Williams, E. & Muir, K., 31 Jan 2019, Palgrave Handbook of Deceptive Communication. Docan-Morgan, T. (ed.). Palgrave Macmillan, p. 249-265 17 p.Research output: Chapter or section in a book/report/conference proceeding › Book chapter
3 Link opens in a new tab Citations (SciVal) -
Managing the Risk of Aggressive Dog Behavior: Investigating the Influence of Owner Threat and Efficacy Perceptions
Williams, E. J. & Blackwell, E., 1 Nov 2019, In: Risk Analysis.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
7 Link opens in a new tab Citations (SciVal) -
Effects of privacy risk perception and cultural bias on intention of connected autonomous vehicle use
Anastasopoulou, K., Williams, E., Whitnall, C., Tryfonas, T., Oswald, E., Morgan, P., Voinescu, A., Piechocki, R. & Tassi, A., 4 Dec 2018, Proceedings - 8th Workshop on Socio-Technical Aspects in Security and Trust, STAST 2018 - Co-located with the 2018 Annual Computer Security Applications Conference, ACSAC 2018. Bella, G. & Lenzini, G. (eds.). Association for Computing Machinery, p. 40-45 6 p. (ACM International Conference Proceeding Series).Research output: Chapter or section in a book/report/conference proceeding › Chapter in a published conference proceeding
2 Link opens in a new tab Citations (SciVal)