John Sileo lost his million-dollar startup, his wealth, and two years of his life to cybercrime.
It began when a cybercriminal – a trusted insider – embezzled from the company’s clients using John’s identity. John was held legally and financially responsible for the felonies committed while proving his innocence.
The losses not only destroyed his company and decimated his life savings, but consumed two years of young fatherhood as he fought to stay out of jail.
Thankfully, John’s story has a happy ending. After two years, he was exonerated of all crimes and has spent the better part of two decades sharing his story and hard-earned wisdom as a cybersecurity expert, award-winning author, 60 Minutes guest, and keynote speaker for the Pentagon, Amazon, and thousands of audiences worldwide. He seeks to keep organisations from becoming the next disastrous data breach headline.
John specialises in the human elements of cybersecurity and uses disarming humour, audience interaction, and cutting-edge research to keep his training relevant and entertaining.
He is President of The Sileo Group, a Colorado-based think tank, and serves on several boards as a director. He graduated with honours from Harvard University and was recently inducted into the National Speakers Hall of Fame.
John finds his greatest pleasure hiking in the Rocky Mountains with his amazing wife and strong daughters – the family who helped him turn life’s lemons into something much sweeter and more fulfilling.
Talking Points
Blockbuster Cybersecurity in a Zero Trust World
Hackers don’t just adapt to change – they bank on it – and therefore organizations must do the same to stay ahead of cyber risks. The rapid expansion of remote workforces, ransomware gangs, cloud jacking, IoT hacking, supply chain attacks, social engineering, and disinformation campaigns have altered the way we must defend our data, reputation, and profits. A faulty adage asserts that humans are your weakest link; in reality, they can be your greatest defense.Blockbuster Cybersecurity in a Zero Trust World
Cybersecurity doesn’t grow from shinier tools, but from the powerful intersection between human beings and technology. In his cybersecurity keynote speaker presentation, John combines potent lessons with a humorous phone-hacking demonstration to build a Blockbuster Framework for analyzing, organizing, and communicating a robust cybersecurity strategy.
The Art of Human Hacking: Social Engineering Self Defense
Anti-fraud and social engineering training only work when your people experience it first-hand. Humans can be theThe Art of Human Hacking: Social Engineering Self Defense
weakest link or the strongest competitive advantage in the security and profitability of your information. But people are
often the most underutilized weapon in your fight against cybercrime. Don’t surrender to Death by PowerPoint; fraud
training needs to be engaging to be effective. This presentation makes security interactive, so that it sticks. In it, John
will use his own losses at the hands of social engineering to illustrate the tools and tricks used to separate you from your
critical data, including: System 1 & 2 reflexes, social media harvesting, trust shortcuts, ego stroking, greed appeals, and
cortisol flushing. By John’s closing story, you will be fully empowered to detect and deter social engineering and fraud.
Building a Bulletproof Culture of Security: A Crash Course for Savvy Leaders
To avoid becoming the next disastrous data-breach headline, you must foster a healthy culture of security thatBuilding a Bulletproof Culture of Security: A Crash Course for Savvy Leaders
addresses both the technological and human elements of data defense. Change happens when you create energy and
buy-in among the people who handle your mission-critical information. When it comes to the latest data security
threats, you can’t possibly do everything—but you must do the right things. This cyber-leadership crash course forges a
high-level, non-technical path through the often-confusing web of cybersecurity. It is a highly interactive presentation
that leverages John’s first-hand experience of losing everything to cybercrime, continues with a live hacking demo of an
audience member’s smartphone and ends with an actionable Roadmap of Leadership Next Steps.
Think Like a Spy: Identity Theft & Online Privacy Protection
Smart speakers and digital assistants like Alexa, Google and Siri eavesdrop on the conversations you have at home andThink Like a Spy: Identity Theft & Online Privacy Protection
work, sharing your behaviors with their “partners”. Super cookies collect your browsing history, selling your privacy to
the highest bidder. Mobile phone providers track and trade your location while social media sites build psychographic
dossiers that classify you according to your psycho-social profile. Identity thieves hack these sources, banking on your
data and wealth. Think Like A Spy focuses on taking control of your identity and privacy. Due to the rapid rate at which
information is being compromised, you must leverage the very latest prevention tools to protect everything from your
Social Security number to bank account, from passwords to confidential emails. John delivers these identity theft and
privacy countermeasures in a highly interactive speech inspired by his loss of more than $300,000 to ID theft.
Video
John Sileo | Cybersecurity Keynote Speaker
Cybersecurity is serious. Your cybersecurity keynote speaker doesn’t have to be. As a cybersecurity expert, author and keynote speaker, John Sileo excels at presenting the other half of the story. In addition to his role as an entertaining presenter, John has a compelling story having lost his multi-million-dollar business and two years of his life to cybercrime. John shares his remarkable story to connect with audiences at a deeper level and clarify the why of cybersecurity. Whether live hacking an iPhone to humorously illustrate a point or sharing the emerging cyberthreats to your industry, John’s specialty is engaging the audience as he educates.John Sileo | Live Smartphone Hack
There is nothing more important to good Security Awareness Training and Cybersecurity Keynotes than interacting with the audience to cement key learnings. In this video, cybersecurity expert and keynote speaker John Sileo adds a dose of humor to keep audiences laughing and learning.John Sileo | Losing Nearly Everything to Cybercrime
John Sileo lost his multi-million-dollar startup, his wealth, and two years of his life to cybercrime. It began when a hacker electronically embezzled from the company’s clients using John’s identity. John was initially held legally and financially responsible for the felonies committed. The losses not only destroyed his company and decimated his finances, but consumed two years of young fatherhood as he fought to stay out of jail. But John’s story has a happy ending and has become a worldwide catalyst for change. Since being found innocent of all crimes (and the real hacker put in jail), John has made it his life’s work to share hard-earned wisdom as a cybersecurity expert, award-winning author, 60 Minutes guest, and keynote speaker. His happy clients range from the Pentagon to Amazon, small associations to enterprise organizations. His mission is to keep others from becoming the next disastrous data breach headline. John specializes in the human elements of cybersecurity and uses disarming humor, audience interaction, and cutting-edge research to keep his training relevant and entertaining. John is President & CEO of The Sileo Group, a Colorado-based technology think tank, and serves on a variety of boards. He graduated with honors from Harvard University and was recently inducted into the National Speakers Hall of Fame. John finds his greatest joy in spending time with the loves of his life: his wife, two daughters, and mini golden doodle. And yes, life’s bumps have shaped him into a slightly over-protective but well-intentioned helicopter dad.If we could quantify the impact of John’s cyber security presentation on our attendees, it would likely be in the millions. ... keep reading Young Presidents Organization (YPO)
Sileo’s security awareness training stopped $300,000 in fraud just days after his presentation.
John is a certified risk killer worth every penny.
OUR BEST SPEAKER EVER! Funny, relevant and actionable.
No techno-babble here, just hard-core solutions delivered with great energy.
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