Controlled behavioral experiments
Simulation of fraudulent scenarios in a safe laboratory environment.
/01 - HUMAN
Human Financial Behavior
How people perceive risk, respond to pressure, and make financial decisions under manipulation - across cognitive security, victimology, protective technologies, and regulation.
PERCEPTION · PRESSURE · BIAS · DECISION · ACTION
/ PILLARS
Four research pillars.
/02 - HOW WE STUDY BEHAVIOR
Research instruments.
Experimental simulation, measurement, modeling, and intervention design - scored by changes in action, not only awareness.
Immersive trainers & VR
Games, simulators, and immersive scenarios for pressure-conditioned learning.
Eye tracking & neurophysiology
Measurement of attention and physiological response under manipulative stimuli.
Behavioral analytics & clustering
MECE profiling, cluster models, and large-scale pattern monitoring.
Predictive modeling
Machine-learning approaches to victimization and vulnerability risk.
Intervention & nudge design
Inoculation protocols, checklists, and interface nudges tested against real behavior.
THE DECISION NETWORK
From stimulus to financial action.
A live map of how a financial choice forms - from the first cue to the irreversible click.
/03 - CURRENT RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY
From programs to tools.
Status meanings
- ACTIVE RESEARCH — Ongoing research work — not a finished product.
- IN DEVELOPMENT — Being built or instrumented; not publicly deployed.
- PILOT — Limited trial with partners or cohorts.
- IMPLEMENTED — Registered, deployed, or in operational use where stated.
- PLANNED — Roadmapped initiative — not active delivery.
- COMPLETED — Finished research or delivery cycle.
Tool / technology
T/001/IMPLEMENTED2025
Golden Detector Simulator
Registered interactive training program for protection against financial fraud and social engineering.
Explore
Implementation
I/001/IMPLEMENTED2024
Cognitive Shield
Practice-oriented program for countering social engineering and financial fraud in the banking sector and for the public.
Explore
Research infrastructure
D/001/ACTIVE RESEARCH2026
Atlas of Cognitive Vulnerabilities
A systematized map of psychological mechanisms and vulnerabilities exploited by fraudsters, grounded in experiments and surveys.
Explore
Research infrastructure
D/002/IN DEVELOPMENT2026
RBDISIN — Social-Engineering Incident Database
Russian database of social-engineering incidents: depersonalized cases from partners for analysis, modeling, and experimentation.
Explore
Research infrastructure
D/003/PLANNED2026
Behavioral Vulnerability Index
Planned quarterly analytic product on population behavioral vulnerability.
Explore
Implementation
I/002/IMPLEMENTED2025
Regionally Differentiated Antifraud Content
Targeted content developed for the Bank of Russia Information Security Department: cluster analysis across 8 federal districts, 6 persona types, and differentiated strategies.
Explore
Tool / technology
T/006/IN DEVELOPMENT2026
Protective Interface Nudges
Interface elements and behavioral checklists designed for embedding into banking applications at moments of suspicious action.
Explore
/ EXPERIMENT
Would you recognize manipulation under pressure?
A short interactive simulation. Experience a financial social-engineering attack in two steps - and see how FTLAB breaks down the manipulation behind it.
SAFE SIMULATION
No personal data is requested, stored or transmitted.
/04 - FROM RESEARCH TO IMPACT
Science that becomes protection.
A working loop from observation to implementation in financial environments.
01
Observe
Human behavior under financial and social-engineering pressure.
02
Measure
Experiments, neurophysiological signals, and incident data.
03
Model
Vulnerability mechanisms, victim clusters, and predictive risk.
04
Design
Interventions, trainers, nudges, and protective protocols.
05
Test
Behavioral-change metrics - action, not only knowledge.
06
Implement
Financial institutions, regulators, and educational systems.
/05 - FROM RESEARCH TO EDUCATION
Education as infrastructure.
Master’s programs, professional courses, and training formats that move laboratory methods into classrooms and financial organizations.
E/001/Master’s programPILOT
Behavioral Economics and Economic Psychology
SPbU master’s program; described as a Bank of Russia pilot project with banking and industry collaborators.
E/002/Master’s programACTIVE
Platform Economy
SPbU master’s program developed with regulatory and industry collaborators named in laboratory materials.
E/003/Additional educationACTIVE
DOP: Behavioral Economics and Economic Psychology
Additional professional education track at SPbU.
E/006/Online courseLAUNCHING 2026
Cognitive Shield: Information Security in the Digital World
Online course for first-year students: cyber threats, personal data, social networks, deepfakes, practical defense skills.
All first-year students
E/007/Online courseLAUNCHING 2026
Behavioral Security in the Financial Environment
Online course on financial literacy, banking, credit, insurance, digital payments, and case analysis.
Year 1–2 students
E/008/TrainingRECURRING
Cognitive Shield for Bank Employees
Practice program on countering social engineering, delivered with banking association and Bank of Russia structures.
/06 - RESEARCH OUTPUT
Selected research output.
2026JOURNAL ARTICLEPsychological Portrait of a Bank Employee: From Vulnerability to Resilience under Financial FraudMedyanik O.V., Kuznetsov S.V., Medyanik A.I., Gasymov E.Sh.Review of Pedagogical Research, 8(3)
2026JOURNAL ARTICLEBehavioral Economics and Financial Security: Psychological Mechanisms of Vulnerability and TrustTosunyan G.A., Medyanik O.V.Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Economics, 42(2)IN PRESS
2025REGISTERED IPInteractive Training Program in Financial Fraud Prevention: Golden Detector SimulatorMedyanik O.V., Medyanik S.I.Software registration certificate 2025696334
2025JOURNAL ARTICLEPropensity to Financial Suggestion: Neuropsychological and Psychophysiological FactorsMedyanik O.V., Shoshina I.I., Legostaeva N.I., Medyanik S.I.Russian Psychological Journal, 22(2), 227–248→/07 - FIELD NOTES
Field Notes
2026-10-09 · Conference
II All-Russian conference: Behavioral Economics and Information Security
9–10 October 2026 at SPbU — plenaries, antifraud panels, platform dialogue, and Youth Day with the Golden Detector simulation. Full program published.
Read note →
2025-12-17 · Registered technology
Golden Detector training software registered
Software certificate 2025696334 records the interactive simulator for financial-fraud and social-engineering defense. Full deployment is planned for October 2026.
2025-09-05 · Research forum
Cognitive Shield round table supported at SPbU
SPbU scientific-event support for the round table on social-engineering counterpractice in banking (through 2026).
2025-01-01 · Laboratory
FinTechLab SPbU established as interdisciplinary center
Laboratory materials date formation to 2025 — linking behavioral economics, information security, and financial technology at SPbU.