Human Weakness is the Real Cyber Threat: Danni Brooke on Phishing, Gender Inclusion & Life Undercover
In an era where cyber threats are evolving rapidly, few voices carry more authority than Danni Brooke. A former Metropolitan Police officer and one of the most highly deployed female undercover operatives, she has operated in some of the most complex and high-risk environments. Her expertise places her among today’s leading Disaster & Crisis Management Speakers.
Now a prominent TV personality and corporate speaker, Danni shares her insights into human behaviour, operational resilience, and cyber vulnerabilities. As a speaker for The Champions Speakers Agency, she regularly delivers impactful keynotes. From InfoSec Europe to global boardrooms, her advice is trusted and timely.
In this exclusive interview, Danni explores today’s threat landscape, the critical human factor in cyber defence, and the importance of inclusive leadership. She also reflects on her policing career and offers practical guidance for women entering cyber security and law enforcement.
Q: Which type of cyber-attack tends to impact businesses the most?
Danni Brooke: “I don’t think it will surprise you to hear that the most common cyber-attack, even today, is generally a good old phishing attack. They’re not going away. Survival isn’t going away. We all live our lives online, and we are seeing some very, very sophisticated phishing expeditions.
“I think people do talk about it more now, which is half the battle. I think the more we talk about it, the more it’s in the forefront of our mind. But you’ll be surprised to hear that a lot of hackers or ‘bad guys’ aren’t going up against companies’ IT infrastructure. What they’re doing is using the lane of least resistance – which is usually the human.
“They will be going on to things like LinkedIn and find out who works there and who looks like they would fall for a trick of asking them to get them into the company. Not necessarily as blasé as that, but who can I trick, who can I manipulate? And that’s how they’re doing it. They’re literally using the human element.
“I think it’s not going away. This is something that’s going to only get more and more sophisticated. Some of the things that we’re seeing at the moment, even we’re surprised at the limits that these people are going to.”
Q: How can businesses identify the strengths and weaknesses in their cyber defences?
Danni Brooke: “I think that many companies have a standard operating procedure for cyber now. I know in the US they have it; they have to have regular trainings. I believe it happens in the UK as well. But that is it; it’s just talking about it. The more we talk about something, the more we think and the more we look and the more we give it a bit of consideration.
“If you’ve got a company that don’t talk about cyber, or the potential hacks, or what’s happening in the current news with hacking and the threats, people just forget. Because if you’re not talking about it constantly and it’s not in the forefront of your mind – people forget. And with humans, we’re busy, we’ve got other things going on.
“I do think people are getting better because we talk about it, because it’s in the press more. But with trainings, current trends – ask a cyber professional: ‘What are you seeing at the moment?’, ‘What’s forecast for cyber?’, ‘What do you think?’, ‘You’re the professional—what do you think?’ Knowing myself, I like to talk. I will chew your ear off all day about cyber and what we think is going to happen and what we’ve been seeing.
“So just feel free to reach out. It’s a passion. Cybercrime is not going away”.
Q: How can companies foster greater gender inclusion, especially in sectors where women remain underrepresented?
Danni Brooke: “I feel like industries, particularly corporates, could do better with inclusion. But again, by talking to people about merit, not based on gender. I don’t feel like people should be given a job because of their gender. I personally would find that quite upsetting if I did get the job just because I’m female.
“I would rather be given the job because I’m good enough for the job, I’ve passed all the interview processes, and I was the best candidate. I would feel much better about that than my senior management saying: ‘Well, we’ve had a female’.
“I would rather be given my job on merit than because of my gender. I think that there are enough women out there who are able to do the job just as well, or if not better, than men across many, many industries”.
Q: What guidance would you offer to women pursuing careers in traditionally male-dominated fields?
Danni Brooke: “When I joined the police many moons ago, I actually joined off the back of a female-driven recruitment drive. Which annoys me somewhat because I like to think people are given jobs due to merit, not because of their gender.
“I can say that, whilst I was serving in the police, I was not in any way discriminated against because I was female. I don’t think, later in my career, I was given the job because I was female. I think I was given the job because I was good enough. And I think that’s really important.
“My advice would be to anyone thinking about a career in the police is to give it a go – go and do it. And don’t be scared that you think it might be, still heavily dominated as a male industry, because I don’t think that’s the case. I think the statistics show that it’s actually almost half and half. So, just give it a go. Don’t let gender put you off.”
Q: What personal attributes are essential for someone working as an undercover operative?
Danni Brooke: “So, to be a successful undercover operative, I would say that confidence is half of the battle. You need to be confident in why you’re there, what you’re doing, who you are. If you’re confident, you know the adversary, or the person that you’re trying to maybe infiltrate or get information out of, will never second-guess you.
“If your story is solid and you’re confident with what you’ve got, you’ll be fine. It’s all about being able to think very quickly on your feet and being confident, and that is literally half the battle”.
This exclusive interview with Danni Brooke was conducted by Mark Matthews of The Champions Speakers Agency.
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