Jiun Tang

Digital technology has been adopted rapidly since the pandemic in 2020. Meanwhile, cybercrime such as scams, phishing attacks and misinformation has increased. Vulnerable groups of the population are less able to defend themselves against online risks. A survey in England and Wales found that older adults suffer more severe cases of cybercrime (e.g., financial loss) and repeat victimisation. In 2025, the UK government enacts the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill to support the National Cyber Strategy (NCS) to protect the country’s digital economy and to defend the “whole of society” with the ambition of “building a resilient and prosperous digital UK”.

A definition of resilience is “the capacity to learn, recover and bounce back after having negative or adverse experiences online, encompassing both human psychological and behavioural dimensions”. Previous studies in the resilience of older adults have focused on family and social support, self-empowerment, digital literacy, and cyber security behaviours. However, less is focused on investigating technology design for older adults informed by linking vulnerability factors and cyber resilience.

This PhD research aims to understand the vulnerabilities of older users and to contribute to the knowledge of cyber security considerations for software designers. To achieve these goals, the research proposes this overarching research question: How can we build resilient digital ecosystems for vulnerable older users? This question can be narrowed down to the following research questions:
       RQ1: What are older adults' vulnerabilities and sources of resilience?
       RQ2: How do developers negotiate these vulnerabilities when designing digital products for older users?