Dr Joshua Dwight is on a mission to secure the e-commerce space and combat cyber fraud.
Dr Joshua Dwight is an IT lecturer and Associate Program Manager for IT and Software Engineering at RMIT University Vietnam. With over 14 years of professional experience in various IT roles, including program management, process improvement, IT auditing, and cyber security, he brings a wealth of practical knowledge to his research and teaching.
His research focuses broadly on cyber security, with a particular interest in combating cyber fraud in e-commerce. Drawing from his experience managing e-commerce technology infrastructure at US retailer Costco for nearly seven years, he has a deep understanding of the challenges facing this rapidly growing industry.
"E-commerce is highly targeted by criminals and fraudsters because it's easy to access and hard to control," Dr Dwight explained. "It's such an integral part of our lives and we must find ways to make it both safer and more convenient for everyone."
In addition to his work on e-commerce security, Dr Dwight is tackling an emerging and alarming trend: scam compounds. Working with a non-profit organisation, he is investigating how criminal networks use job sites and social media to lure victims into human trafficking situations, forcing them to commit cyber crimes.
Despite the serious nature of his work, Dr Dwight approaches his research and teaching with humour and positivity.
"I want to help people identify and report bad behaviour and fraud," he said. "The more we can help people and organisations protect themselves and help law enforcement do their jobs better, the more we can strive to make a better world."
Through his classes, LinkedIn network, and Substack blog, Dr Dwight is committed to sharing knowledge and making cyber security concepts accessible to all.
Explore more of his perspectives on cyber security and his innovative approach to teaching in our video:
Dr Joshua Dwight is on a mission to secure the e-commerce space and combat cyber fraud.
E-commerce is highly targeted by criminals and fraudsters because it's easy to access and hard to control. It's such an integral part of our lives and we must find ways to make it both safer and more convenient for everyone.
I'm Joshua Dwight. I'm an IT lecturer and Associate Program Manager for IT and Software Engineering at RMIT Vietnam. I've been teaching in education for over nine years and I've got over 14 years of professional experience in various IT roles such as program management, process improvement, IT auditing, and cyber security.
My research focuses broadly on cyber security with a particular interest in cyber fraud in e-commerce. I worked for Costco for nearly seven years managing their e-commerce technology infrastructure efforts. So that's an industry that I'm really really interested in.
E-commerce is now everywhere. Here in Vietnam more than half of the population shops online and the market has been growing double digits in recent years. It's really really easy to access which also makes it so hard to control. So, it's becoming a popular target for criminal and deviant behaviours.
There are many ways that e-commerce can be impacted by bad actors. They might attack e-commerce sites directly or they might create a fake website with the same look and feel as, you know, the Shopee website to collect your data illegally.
Or you have people that will buy something and it gets shipped to them but then they say, “Ah, I didn't get it. Please give me a refund.” A lot of times the e-commerce sites will give the refund because they're trying to make the customer experience as nice as possible.
So those are the things that I'm investigating – looking at all the different aspects of how people take advantage of the e-commerce space and then what companies can do about this.
Recently my research is also focusing on scam compounds, and I'm working with a non-profit on this. It's a big issue where bad guys are using job sites, social media to attract people and recruit them with fake jobs and then human trafficking them to remote locations and making the victims commit cyber crimes on their behalf.
And what motivates me is wanting people to feel safe in the digital space. I want to help people identify and report bad behaviour and fraud.
Now, it's a serious field of work but I like to approach it with humour and positivity. So, in my classrooms I try to make the learning fun, engaging and also useful. I also love to share knowledge whether it's through my networks on LinkedIn or through my Substack blog.
I think the more we can help people and organisations protect themselves and help law enforcement do their jobs better, the more we can strive to make a better world.