Ben Owen is a former British Intelligence Officer turned global cyber security authority and TV star, best known for leading covert operations on Channel 4’s Hunted franchise. His rise—from RAF sniper to Head of Intelligence on Hunted UK, Australia, and US—mirrors a life defined by precision, resilience, and strategic insight.
Now a sought-after cybersecurity speaker on stages worldwide, Ben blends real-world intelligence experience with current cyber threats. He demystifies digital dangers—from insider risk and OSINT to AI-driven deception—offering businesses critical guidance in safeguarding remote teams and digital ecosystems.
In this exclusive interview with The Champions Speakers Agency, Ben Owen shares his journey from frontline operations to television spotlight, and reveals how organisations and individuals can use intelligence tactics to strengthen cyber resilience in an increasingly volatile digital world.
Q: As a cyber security expert, what are the biggest threats businesses face?
Ben Owen: “In my opinion, the biggest threat to business is employees. I sit in the personal digital space, like OSINT, and analyse that horrible grey area in between a business’s technical infrastructure and physical infrastructure. I sit somewhere in the middle there, lurking around, finding the vulnerabilities.
“I’m seeing a huge increase in attackers targeting the people, and not the technical infrastructure of the company.
“I guess it’s all about the lane of least resistance for an attacker. How can they make the most amount of money, if that’s their motivation, in the easiest way without getting caught?
“Very often, this is targeting the people at the business.
Personal information used by attackers
“We upload and share an enormous amount of information online every day, often without realising it.
“For example, leaving a Google review is identifiable by an attacker and provides a really good opportunity to socially engineer you – get you to click on a link, download a voucher onto your system, believe that phone call, or whatever the approach might be.
“Essentially, the more you post online, the more services you subscribe to, the easier you are to trick – and trick being the important word here. This is simply an attack of tricking the human brain.
“Take all the technical jargon out of the way – you hear all these fancy phrases like advanced persistent threats (APT) and other terms like it – but really, it boils down to trickery.
“If an attacker knows you intimately online, they’ll be able to trick you, it’s that simple.
Increasing insider threat
“Lastly, I just want to point out the significant increase of the insider threat, which is a big threat we’re seeing at the moment. This is becoming particularly prevalent in large organisations, where it can be really difficult to identify those red flags.
“As mentioned previously, attackers go for the lane of least resistance. If an attacker has an easier, quicker, or safer option to recruit from within, they will. How do they do it? Again, it all depends on what they find online.
“The main ways they’ll do this: number one is financial incentive; number two is blackmail.
“They simply conduct open-source intelligence gathering on a select few people in an organisation and see what they can find lurking around on the web.
“You’d be very surprised at what an attacker can find: dating sites, gambling accounts, and all sorts of personal information that they can use against you. Those are my main threats to organisations.”
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: PH opens 3D manufacturing hub in Mindanao to boost local innovation
Q: What are the best things businesses can do to prevent cybercrime?
Ben Owen: “I think first and foremost is the realisation that it is not just the C-Suite that are targeted. It’s actually quite the opposite. If you look back in history and understand how intelligence services have worked for centuries, you’ll understand that they get most value from those that are not actually the people deemed as the most important roles.
“Why is that? Well, really simple. Because naturally, their target is down. The target that’s not the person that’s super aware and super vigilant to security in the bigger roles are not as aware as the people in high positions.
“This is exactly the mentality of the hacker. They’ll target new joiners, people that are easily influenced.
“You know, 75 percent of workforces are still remote. It’s not an exact statistic, but globally we’re talking around 75 percent of still remote workforces. This means that some people that have joined your organisation might not have even met a potential line manager.
“They certainly probably wouldn’t have met people in the human resources department. This fact, coupled with them being a new joiner, and if they’ve got a large digital footprint, equals that person being a huge target.
“They will infiltrate their personal environment and then pivot onto their work networks. That’s where they’re going to be targeted.
‘Grey area’ and employee digital footprint
“Recommendations? Solutions? Really, it’s to understand that grey area and address it – don’t shy away from it. When I talk about the grey area, that’s the staff member’s personal digital footprints.
“You can have those difficult conversations with your staff regarding those digital spaces, and it doesn’t have to be awkward or come across as oppressive or obtrusive, looking into their personal life. You can make it fun and engaging. Ultimately, what you’re teaching them is benefiting their families too. Just getting that message across is really important.
“Continuous trainings are crucial – but not the kind where you just click on buttons to appease the IT department. You know, the generic annual training where you click on buttons, subscribe, say, “Yeah, I’ve done it,” and it goes off to your line manager.
“Make them fun, interactive, engaging, with real learning points that they can take away for themselves and their families. They’ll remember them.
“And remember to train those people who are not in leadership or deemed as important roles first – then work up. Because 90 percent of the time this isn’t done. Companies work from the top down, and that’s the wrong way to do it.”
Q: What do you believe is the next big thing in cyber security?
Ben Owen: “The next big thing in cyber security – or cybercrime – I guess I should touch upon it because it’s a hot topic: artificial intelligence and the use of machine learning technology. Of course, it’s one of the biggest subjects out there. It can be deemed as good, bad, or both.
“It can help identify patterns and anomalies in large datasets, enabling quicker and more effective responses to cyber threats. But conversely, it can help attackers understand the exact same large datasets and gather intelligence quicker for nefarious actions.
“It’s also allowing attackers to build incredibly complex and believable alias profiles online – fake accounts, so to speak – and once again, this is used for trickery.
“And I keep using the word “trickery” because that is essentially how we’re being targeted at the moment. We’re being tricked.
“Biometric authentication is also advancing really well. Biometrics like fingerprint and facial recognition offer unique and secure identification methods.
“Integrating these authentication methods into systems enhances security and reduces the reliance on traditional passwords.
“We’re seeing that everyone is susceptible to breaches with passwords, particularly in the personal space, which is often where cyber criminals are going at the moment.
“I feel as though we’re in a strange global lull with cyber security at the moment. It’s such a busy period with good and bad news, worrying news, concerning news, and advances in technology. It’s quite a confusing space.
“I just think it really is the perfect opportunity to take time and focus on the people in the organisation, and the staff’s personal digital spaces, whilst technology almost sorts itself.”
This exclusive interview with Ben Owen was conducted by Mark Matthews of The Motivational Speakers Agency.
READ NEXT: Humanity CEO Peter Ward: AI will transform healthcare, extend human lifespan
Shameeka Voyiya 
Ren Azrack Escosio