Sweden · since 1994 · pewp/speed_phreak

DAVID JACOBY

I break into networks

Ethical hacker, researcher, keynote speaker, author and advisor. Thinking like an attacker, working like a defender, for more than 30 years.

Book a keynote Why I do this

Now: CSO, Syndis
Founder: UnbreachedThreat Prevention CenterOrganicelySecure Minds
On TV: HACKAD_
Field: Offensive security

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30+years in the field

01 · About

Professional internet troublemaker

For more than 30 years, I've been thinking like an attacker and working like a defender. What began as pure curiosity in the underground hacking era became a lifelong mission: find the flaws before someone else does. I've uncovered critical vulnerabilities, pioneered IoT hacking research, exposed large-scale scam operations, and advised multiple Fortune 500 boards on how real attackers operate.

I've held senior leadership roles at international security companies, founded Unbreached and the Threat Prevention Center, and today I'm Chief Strategy Officer at Syndis. Outside security, I'm the founder of Organicely, a venture built around structure that strengthens family life.

As an award-winning keynote speaker and author, I try to bridge hacker culture with executive clarity. I was one of the ethical hackers on the SVT show HACKAD_ and technical advisor to the Millennium series. I also work with the World Childhood Foundation and I'm global ambassador for HackShield, protecting children online and inspiring the next generation of ethical hackers.

Keynotes & talks

Speaking

I speak to leaders. My talks are provocative and thought-provoking, often philosophical, and always built around innovative and creative ideas rather than the same tired security clichés. My signature is live hacking demonstrations: real attacks in real time that make the risk impossible to ignore.

For leadersProvocativeThought-provokingPhilosophicalInnovative & creative

For international enquiries, contact Chartwell Speakers or London Speaker Bureau, or contact me directly.

Signature

Live hacking demonstrations

My favourite way to make a point is to break in, live, on stage. Networks, smart devices, access badges, apps and human behaviour, hacked in real time in front of the room. No theory-heavy slides, just the uncomfortable reality of how easily things fall, and exactly what it takes to stop it.

The talks

Live hacking demonstrations
Hacking Humanity
Insight into the Dark Web
Security for Management
AI, risk & the future

A selection of topics clients have asked me to speak on. Each one can be tailored, combined or built from scratch for your audience.

The insecurity of things

Smart homes, cars and medical and industrial gear: how everyday connected devices get owned, and what it means when everything is online.

Scams & the human factor

Inside real, large-scale scam operations: how they work, why smart people fall for them, and how to fight back.

Social engineering & physical intrusion

Getting past locks, badges and people. The attacks that never touch a firewall.

Security culture that sticks

Turning awareness from a checkbox into real behaviour, for teams, leaders and boards.

AI, risk & responsible tech

What AI really changes for security and ESG, drawn from my new book, ESG in the Age of AI.

From underground to boardroom

My story: hacker culture, curiosity and conscience, translated for the executive table.

On request

Have a topic in mind?

Not seeing exactly what you need? Tell me your audience and the outcome you want, and I'll build a talk around it.

Request a topic

Recognition

Named Excellent Speaker 2024 by Executive Network, Dagens Industri
Ranked #1 on the Top Ten Ethical Hackers to Hire
Ethical hacker on HACKAD_ (SVT)
Technical advisor to the Millennium series
Global ambassador for HackShield

Want the full speaker kit, topic deck or a list of past events and references? Just get in touch.

Book me to speak

Tell me your audience and the outcome you want, and I'll build the talk around it.

Book a talk Watch a talk

02 · Beliefs

What I stand for

Not slogans. The principles that made me who I am, and the thread that runs through every hack, every talk, and every company I've built.

Curiosity is not a crime

Everything I am started with one question I could never stop asking: “what happens if I try this?” That curiosity turned a kid poking at systems into a hacker. It exposes weakness in code, in systems, and in the assumptions we all live by. I've never believed the curious mind is the danger. The unexamined system is.

CuriosityEthicsHacking

Security is not a luxury

We don't call seatbelts a luxury, yet I still walk into organisations that treat security as an upgrade for later. When banks, hospitals, elections and children's lives run on digital systems, security stops being a premium feature and becomes infrastructure. That's why I refuse to treat it as optional.

SecurityInfrastructureRisk

Safety is a mindset, not a product

You can't buy awareness or outsource responsibility, no matter how many tools you own. Attackers don't break products, they exploit assumptions. A control you don't understand, test or challenge isn't protection, it's decoration. Real safety begins the moment we stop believing we're already safe.

MindsetCultureAwareness

We can all be hackers

A hacker was never the criminal in a hoodie. A hacker is someone who understands a system well enough to question it, and almost anyone can learn to think that way. Hacking isn't about breaking things. It's about refusing to accept that broken is “good enough”, and using that refusal to make things better for everyone.

EducationCommunityMindset

03 · Manifesto

For the people behind the handles

Too many great hackers have left this world, while a brilliant new generation is growing up inside a very different hacker culture. Before LinkedIn profiles, job titles, and cybersecurity became an industry, many of us knew each other only by a handle. Mine were pewp and speed_phreak.

We didn't know what someone looked like, where they came from, what religion they followed, or what colour their skin was. But we knew what they had built, broken, discovered, or shared.

The early hacker community had no real borders. It was global, and it still amazes me that even 30 to 40 years later, some of those hackers are among my closest friends. We argued, competed and challenged each other, but we also taught each other and built friendships that crossed countries, cultures and backgrounds.

We were hackers. We will always be hacking.

Not because hacking is about destroying things, but because hacking is about refusing to accept that something cannot be understood, questioned, improved, or changed. That mindset built the security industry we have today. As cybersecurity becomes ever more corporate, polished and automated, we cannot forget where we came from.

Never stop being curious.
Never stop questioning systems.
Never forget where we came from.

We were hackers. We are hackers. We will always be hacking.

David Jacoby pewp/speed_phreak

04 · Media

On screen, on stage & on paper

ESG in the Age of AI Packt · 2026

New book · Out now · Co-authored

ESG in the Age of AI

An expert-led guide packed with global insights on ESG strategy, compliance and Responsible AI, co-authored by David Jacoby. A practical map for leaders navigating responsible technology in the age of AI.

Get it on Amazon