Rachel McNealey

Rachel McNealey is an Assistant Professor at the School of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University, specializing in cybervictimization, cyberoffending, and digital criminology. Her research bridges traditional crime theories with emerging digital crime phenomena.

• PhD in Criminology (2023, Penn State University)
• MS (2019, University of Alabama)
• BA (2017, University of Alabama)

Her expertise spans cybervictimization, digital forensics, OSINT, and survey methodology, with publications in Journal of Crime and Justice, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, and Journal of Financial Crime. Her Risk & Reactions to Crime dataset examines victimization and offending behaviors across digital and traditional domains.

Recent work explores:

• cybervictimization in 31 countries (2025)
• digital risk perception (2024)
• residential impacts on identity theft (2024)

She has collaborated with the Joint Electronic Crimes Task Force in Alabama, contributing to digital forensics, network intrusion analysis, and Project Halo security initiatives.