Angela Heeler

Angela's research concerns small businesses who have been victims of online crime. When describing being a victim of online crime, people outline the steps they have taken immediately after the crime has taken place. The sentiments they attach to their experiences of becoming a victim, reflect how they felt at the time of being asked about the incident - and not at the time that it happened. Moreover, the journeys taken by the victims to regain or restore their data security is rarely explored in existing studies.

The thesis aims to close this gap by exploring what it means to be a victim of cyber crime in the short-, medium- and long-term, focussing on the victims' journeys. Framed within information security and criminology bodies of literature and building on an initial exploratory study into social media and bank account compromise, the proposed methodology includes co-producing knowledge with victims of online crime.

Angela read Mathematics and Computer Science at undergraduate level and returned many years later to Royal Holloway to complete a Masters in Information Security with Year in Industry. During the intervening years, Angela worked in the Oil and gas sector in IT and then lived abroad working with small businesses.