Olga Bogolyubova
Olga Bogolyubova is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, Leiden University. Her research focuses on the intersection of trauma psychology, cyberpsychology, and digital harm, with particular interest in childhood adversity, online victimization, and harmful online behavior. She has published on topics including traumatic stress, cyber-aggression, online harm, and social aspects of digital risk. Dr. Bogolyubova previously held academic and research positions at the University of Malta, Clarkson University, Yale University, and St. Petersburg State University.
Session
Social engineering is commonly understood through frameworks emphasizing cognitive bias, persuasion techniques, and the deficits of digital literacy. This talk introduces a trauma-informed perspective on social engineering victimization, arguing that some forms of online manipulation exploit not only cognitive shortcuts but also patterns of social cognition shaped by adversity, victimization, and interpersonal trauma. Drawing on research from trauma psychology, cyberpsychology, and victimization studies, the talk examines how processes related to trust, ambiguity, emotional regulation, and threat perception may become relevant in contexts such as romance fraud, phishing, impersonation scams, and disinformation campaigns. The presentation also discusses the possible interplay between offline and online victimization experiences as well as the limitations of models that frame digital victimization primarily as a consequence of insufficient awareness or digital literacy.