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Dr Hai Luong

Research Fellow in Cyber-criminolog

School of Social Science
Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
h.luong@uq.edu.au
+61 7 334 67877

Overview

Dr Hai Thanh Luong is currently conducting his Research Fellow in Cyber Criminology at the School of Social Science and a member of HDR Committee as well as collaborating with UQ Cyber Centre. Additionally, he is a member of the Global Initiative Network's Expert against Transnational Organized Crime (GI TOC) and also a senior researcher and chair of the Asian Drug Crime Research Committee at the Institute for Asian Crime and Security (IACS), the U.S while holding an Associate Research Fellow at the Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University. Dr Hai has a Bachelor of Law (Criminal Investigation) and has spent twenty years researching and teaching in police institutions across the mainland Southeast Asian region, particularly in Vietnam. In 2010, as one of the new emergent scholars for the Australian Development Scholarship in non-traditional security threat fields, he was awarded a full scholarship to gain a Master in Transnational Crime Prevention at the University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. In 2017 he earned a PhD (criminology) at the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, after examining the complicated structure and modus operandi of several transnational drug trafficking in the Golden Triangle across the borderland between Vietnam and Laos in his thesis. His interests include cybercrime, policing in cybercrime/cybersecurity, drug trafficking, migrant smuggling, human trafficking, police training, environmental crimes and biological threats. As a research fellow in cyber criminology at the UQ, he prioritises exploring what, why, and how the human factors impact trends and patterns of cybercrime and applying criminological theories to analyse the criminal network structure and crime script of cyber-related crimes. His latest book 'Transnational Drug Trafficking across the Vietnam and Laos Border' was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2019. He has also published several papers in various academic journals (Asian Survey; Journal of Crime and Justice; International Journal of Cyber Criminology; International Journal of Drug Policy; Policing and Society; International Journal of Crime, Justice and Social Democracy; and Trends in Organized Crime, among others). In 2020, he was awarded the Young Asian Criminologists from the Asian Criminological Society (ASC).

As a member of the Asian Regional Law Enforcement Management Program (ARLEMP), funded by the Australian Federal Police and hosted by the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam and RMIT Hanoi, he contributed to building a comprehensive connection among law enforcement agencies, policymakers, and academia across Asian countries to prevent and combat serious and transnational crimes since 2005. Accordingly, he has collaborated with law enforcement agencies (police, customs, border guards, coast/maritime guards, and rangers) to exchange, discuss, and research the trends and patterns of transnational crimes across the Southeast Asia region through joining and consulting at the Australia-Mekong Partnership and the U.S.-Mekong Dialogue against Transnational Crimes. Recently, he presented and worked closely with many international and regional organisations, including the UNODC Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific (Bangkok, Thailand), ASEANPOL, and AFP and consulted with the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam and the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam. He has gained research funds from the GI TOC, UNODC, Harm Reduction International, International Drug Policy Consortium, Australian Government, the U.S. Department of State, and Vietnamese Government in recent ten years.

Research Interests

  • Human factors of cybercrime
  • Applying criminological theories to explain cyber-related crimes
  • Online offending
  • Policing in cybercrime
  • Transnational crimes (human trafficking, drug trafficking, migrants smuggling, environmental crimes)
  • Southeast Asian organised crime concerns

Qualifications

  • Master of Criminology, University of Wollongong
  • Advanced Diploma, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
  • Doctor of Philosophy, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

Publications

View all Publications

Available Projects

  • Trafficking of Contagion Environmental Crime and Biological Threats in the Greater Mekong

    It is the part of the 2-year (2020-2022) project of GI TOC ($120,000 funded Norway). Our policy brief explores the relationships between environmental crime, law enforcement and biological threat preparedness and response in the Greater Mekong Subregion of South East Asia. This has highlighted the need for greater biological threat awareness at the policy level, and its incorporation into environmental crime enforcement strategies. This approach necessitates a better understanding of biological threats among security sector actors, and their need to cultivate partnerships with health sector agencies in tackling environmental crime. A greater degree of cross-border and cross-sector awareness and partnerships will improve the enforcement of environmental crimes and increase biological threat surveillance, preparedness and response.

    To address this issue, we recommend the following actions:

    • Redefine health as a national security priority
    • Increase partnership between enforcement and health
    • Increase investment and resources
    • Donor organizations and NGOs to classify biological threats as security concerns
    • Further research to guide future projects

  • Minimizing the Risk of Data Breaches in Virtual Workplaces

    COVID-19 (with increased virtual working) appears to have accelerated the frequency and the negative impact of data breaches in organisations. It is critical to minimise the risk of data breaches to promote productivity. A/Prof Remi Ayoko – Business School, leading group, Prof Ryan Ko – School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, Dr Momo – Business School, and me (Dr Hai Luong – School of Social Science), had granted the second round of the UQ Cyber Seed Funding, with amount $74,578 to conduct their project between Sep 2022 and Aug 2023. Collaborating with industries the Arts Access Australia (AAA) and CyberCX, this project will establish the patterns and extent of data breaches in virtual workspaces while exploring its impact on employees' productivity. This project's co-designing cyber training intervention should deepen employers' and employees' understanding of minimising the risk of data breaches to promote organisational productivity.

View all Available Projects

Publications

Book

Book Chapter

Journal Article

Conference Publication

Other Outputs

Possible Research Projects

Note for students: The possible research projects listed on this page may not be comprehensive or up to date. Always feel free to contact the staff for more information, and also with your own research ideas.

Dr Hai Luong is not currently available to take on new students.

  • Trafficking of Contagion Environmental Crime and Biological Threats in the Greater Mekong

    It is the part of the 2-year (2020-2022) project of GI TOC ($120,000 funded Norway). Our policy brief explores the relationships between environmental crime, law enforcement and biological threat preparedness and response in the Greater Mekong Subregion of South East Asia. This has highlighted the need for greater biological threat awareness at the policy level, and its incorporation into environmental crime enforcement strategies. This approach necessitates a better understanding of biological threats among security sector actors, and their need to cultivate partnerships with health sector agencies in tackling environmental crime. A greater degree of cross-border and cross-sector awareness and partnerships will improve the enforcement of environmental crimes and increase biological threat surveillance, preparedness and response.

    To address this issue, we recommend the following actions:

    • Redefine health as a national security priority
    • Increase partnership between enforcement and health
    • Increase investment and resources
    • Donor organizations and NGOs to classify biological threats as security concerns
    • Further research to guide future projects

  • Minimizing the Risk of Data Breaches in Virtual Workplaces

    COVID-19 (with increased virtual working) appears to have accelerated the frequency and the negative impact of data breaches in organisations. It is critical to minimise the risk of data breaches to promote productivity. A/Prof Remi Ayoko – Business School, leading group, Prof Ryan Ko – School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, Dr Momo – Business School, and me (Dr Hai Luong – School of Social Science), had granted the second round of the UQ Cyber Seed Funding, with amount $74,578 to conduct their project between Sep 2022 and Aug 2023. Collaborating with industries the Arts Access Australia (AAA) and CyberCX, this project will establish the patterns and extent of data breaches in virtual workspaces while exploring its impact on employees' productivity. This project's co-designing cyber training intervention should deepen employers' and employees' understanding of minimising the risk of data breaches to promote organisational productivity.

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Links

ResearcherID: AAM-2326-2020

ORCID: 0000-0003-2421-9149

Scopus ID: 57212565818

Google Scholar ID: mZa8WH0AAAAJ

Personal Profile: Link

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