Director of Cyber Workforce Psychology
@ Immersive Labs
Dr Blythe also holds a Honorary Research Fellowship with the Dawes Centre for Future Crime at UCL.
Main CyberPsychology Expertise:
The Psychology of Cyber Security
Other Specialisations
Behaviour Change
Consultant Expertise:
- He has worked across industry, government and academia.
- Has previously worked as a Behavioural Scientist Lead at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport working on cybersecurity policy
- Is a committee member of the CyberPsychology section of the BPS
- Is an Expert Fellow of SPRITE+ Hub https://spritehub.org/
Videos and Podcasts
Human aspect of cybersecurity in organisations (July 2020)
The interview covers:
- John’s background and his journey into working in cyber security.
- The increased focus on the human aspect of cyber security in the past 10 years
- The implications of punishment in organisations
- Personalisation of behaviour change interventions encouraging security behaviours
- How do we encourage people to care about what happens to their data.
The Internet of Things and Consumer (15 Aug 2018)
John was interviewed by the American Psychological Association about cyberpsychology and the Internet of Things. He covers:
- Why crime harvest is likely to occur with smart home tech
- Why regulation and other interventions are needed to address security issues
- How best to support consumers buying smart products
Workplace Technology Research
2021
Remote Working Pre- and Post-COVID-19: An Analysis of New Threats and Risks to Security and Privacy
This paper explores the impact of COVID-19 on the security risks of remote working.
2020
Phishing Your Staff: A Double-Edged Sword?
Naming and shaming. Taking away IT assets. Compulsory training. Lots of companies are doing it, but should they? This paper explores the impact of punishment on staff wellbeing and productivity.
2019
Human Cyber Risk Management by Security Awareness Professionals: Carrots or Sticks to Drive Behaviour Change?
Organisations employ “carrots” (rewards) and “sticks” (sanctions) to reduce risky behaviour. The findings revealed that organisations use a variety of rewards and sanctions within their campaigns, with sanctions being used across 90% of the organisations. Our findings suggest the need for a greater consideration of the human element of cyber security.
2018
Costly but effective: Comparing the factors that influence employee anti-malware behaviours.
We test what influences staff security behaviour and find that focussing on helping people to cope with security threats is more effective than scaring them.
Other Technology Research
2020
The impact of IoT security labelling on consumer product choice and willingness to pay
We test how different types of product labelling affect consumer choice and security decisions.
October 2019
A systematic review of crime facilitated by the consumer Internet of Things
This review suggests that the consumer IoT presents substantial new opportunities for offending and intervention is needed now to prevent an IoT crime harvest.
2017
The role of trust in eHealth websites: The enduring power of impartiality
We explore how people trust health websites and find that impartiality is a stable factor that influences whether people trust information online and then act upon it.
