Microsoft Chief Security Advisor, Independent Board Advisor, Best-Selling Author, Keynote Speaker and Fellow British Computer Society.

Operating at the forefront of the cybersecurity industry, Sarah Armstrong-Smith is the Chief Security Advisor at Microsoft. She has led a long and impactful career, guiding businesses through digital attacks and teaching organisations how to protect their people and data.

Sarah’s previous positions include Group Head Business Resilience & Crisis Management at The London Stock Exchange Group and Head Continuity & Resilience, Enterprise & Cyber Security at Fujitsu. Such high-profile roles earned Sarah a place in the Most Influential Women in UK Tech and Most Influential Women in Cybersecurity.

In 2022, Sarah released her first book ‘Effective Crisis Management’ which reached number two on the Amazon Best Sellers List. With a new way to share her expertise with a large audience, her leading insight into technology and security is respected by many throughout the industry.

Sarah’s latest book ‘Understand the Cyber Attacker Mindset’ explores the psychology of cyber warfare and how organisations can defend themselves from attack. The human aspects of cybersecurity have never been more critical.

From an early age, I knew I wanted to be in business. My mam and dad have always run their own businesses and have owned a decorating store for more than 30 years. The shop became part of our lives in a big way. We’d think nothing of a decorator knocking on our door at 10 pm for a tin of paint because my mam would happily get dressed, open the shop up and mix it for them. My sister Helen and I helped out a lot as kids and learnt the value of money as well as the basics of running a business. Having grown up surrounded by career-driven people and having watched my parents reap the rewards of owning their own companies, I knew that one day I wanted to do the same and thought that I could be the one to take over the family business. My sister Helen took over that role and runs it today.

Instead, I went to university and was introduced to the huge world that is crafting. After speaking to crafters who were putting their lovely handmade cards into standard white envelopes, I realised that I had found a gap in the market and Crafter’s Companion was born. That was 15 years ago and today Crafter’s Companion is a global retailer headquartered in the North East of England, employing more than 200 people across the world. Since I launched Crafter’s Companion, there’s never been a dull moment. I’ve taken our products and demonstrations to TV shopping channels across the world and have visited some amazing places, all in the name of craft. I’m proud that we’ve created a loyal community of crafters and a network of support for so many people!

I married my childhood sweetheart, Simon, in 2007 and a year later he joined Crafter’s Companion as the company’s managing director. He oversees the day-to-day running of the business and I get to focus on business development and all things creative, which I love. We’ve got two amazing kids, Charlie and Oliver, who share my passion for making and we’re always trying out new things together. On a personal note, I was awarded an MBE in 2016 and I’m the youngest-ever dragon to have joined the panel of entrepreneurs on Dragons’ Den. I used to watch the show all the time as a business student, so as you can imagine, it’s a dream come true!

Speaking of dreams come true, I have been a huge fan of BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing for as long as I can remember and have long wished that I could take part in the show. Well, in 2021, my dreams turned into a reality when I was asked to take part in series 19. I was partnered with the wonderful Aljaž Škorjanec and absolutely loved my time on the show as well the Strictly Live Tour, which followed in January 2022. I feel incredibly lucky to have had the full Strictly experience, and I made some true friends for life. I’ve had a whirlwind of a career so far and never imagined that a passion for crafting could take me so far. So whatever your ‘craft’ may be, just imagine where it can take you next.

I'm an author, speaker, investigative journalist and podcast creator, with world-leading expertise on organised crime and technology. I've worked for the BBC, Audible, Penguin, Sky News, The Sunday Times and many more. In a career spanning 20 years I've covered financial crime, money laundering, cryptocurrency and the emergence of cybercrime as one of the primal threats to modern society. My podcasts have received over 10 million listens. My latest book for Penguin, Rinsed, reveals how technology has changed the money laundering industry. An accomplished public speaker, I've given more than 300 keynote talks in over a dozen countries for some of the world’s biggest brands, including Microsoft, Mastercard, HSBC, Orange and Bank of America, in addition to chairing events and appearing on panels at venues ranging from London’s Chatham House think-tank to the Latitude music festival. My previous book for Penguin, The Lazarus Heist – From Hollywood to High Finance: Inside North Korea’s Global Cyber War, sprang from the hit 10-part BBC podcast series of the same name, which I co-hosted and which immediately ranked number one in the UK Apple chart and within the top 7 in the US. My first book, Crime Dot Com: From Viruses to Vote Rigging, How Hacking Went Global, was published in August 2020 by Reaktion Books and was described as “a fascinating, often gripping read”. I've written and presented two major podcast series for Audible. The Dark Web exposed the shadow internet and has been a top ten hit on the platform since its launch in 2017. Artificial Intelligence: Friend or Foe? revealed the origins of AI, and shows how the technology is seeping into everyday life. My own podcast series Cybercrime Investigations takes listeners inside the world of an investigative journalist, detailing the twists and turns as the story unfolds. I was also the co-creator of The Secret Life of Your Mobile Phone, a live, interactive phone hacking stage performance. The show was a sell–out hit at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2017, and has been performed at music festivals, political conferences and for corporate clients. As technology correspondent for Channel 4 News I won multiple awards for my work on the Snowden leaks, the hacking of Britain’s largest ISP TalkTalk and my exposés of fraud in the internet dating industry. I was the creator of the programme’s Data Baby project, a unique experiment which used a fictional online persona to expose how personal data is used – and abused – online.