| Professor Richard Benham | |
| Honorific Suffix: | FCIIS FBCS |
| Birth Date: | August 1965 |
| Education: | University of Oxford, 2000 |
| Occupation: | Professor, Independent Advisor, Non-Executive Director |
| Known For: | |
| Nationality: | British |
Richard Benham (born August 1965) is a pioneering figure in the field of Cyber Security, known for his contributions as an academic, innovator, entrepreneur, and best-selling author. He was the world's first formal Professor of Cyber Security Management at Coventry University in 2013 and now holds a visiting Chair at Abertay University in Cyber Innovation, Trust and Ethics.
He is the Patron of The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park.[1]
After a career in banking and insurance where Benham was part of the management team that formed Egg Banking, the UK's first internet bank, he changed careers to undertake senior roles with cross-border policing, the military and government agencies. These roles are subject to the Official Secrets Act.
A three year appointment in 2005 as Group Programme Director for Transport for London saw him instigate and oversee considerable transformation through the introduction of new technologies and lead TFL’s Innovation Centre with partners Imperial College London. This led to the introduction of groundbreaking solutions for passengers including contactless ticketing, and information as well as enhanced security prior to the 2012 Summer Olympics. Benham’s team prototyped (before 3G networks and iPhones) the groundbreaking uses of contactless passenger information transfer using mobile phones, and the use of avatars to communicate this.
In 2008, Benham entered the industry with director roles at Interserve and Reliance Security Group before entering academia to progress his vision of an MBA in Cyber Security.
Coventry University appointed Benham to the Chair of Cyber Security Management in 2013. He designed and accredited The National MBA in Cyber Security, which was launched in 2014 at The House of Commons with cross-party support, marking the first UK degree to receive this honour. This degree received the personal support of Prime Minister David Cameron and is the only degree to have been launched at The House of Commons with cross party support.[2] [3] [4]
During his time, Benham has also held visiting Chairs in Cyber Security at The University of Gloucestershire and Policing at Staffordshire University, and as a lecturer at one of the world's leading business schools IMD, based in Switzerland.
Benham currently holds a newly created chair at Abertay University of Dundee as the Professor of Cyber Innovation, Trust, and Ethics.
Since semi-retiring in 2022, he has served as the first Patron of The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park. He is non-executive chair of several cyber security and technology businesses, including Systal Technology Solutions, Emerge Digital and start-up Lockdown Cyber Security.
In his spare time, he has written four bestselling fictional novels around the impact of global cyber threats, and the real-life impacts of both on society and the citizen.
Benham has been engaged since 1998 by the Home Office, FCDO, The Ministry of Defence, The Metropolitan Police, NCIS, SOCA and Europol on assignments with details unknown.
Richard Benham is a British Army officer reservist and one of the first to act as an adviser on Cyber-related matters to the Ministry of Defence. He holds a British Army Officer commission with the rank of Major within SGIS, part of Strategic Command (United Kingdom).
He has worked as a civilian adviser for both the UK Hydrographic Office and the Submarine Development Agency within the MoD on sensitive projects.
He has been a council member of The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust since 2016.[5]
In 2015, Benham was chosen by the Institute of Directors to write its inaugural policy paper on Cyber and Business, which received worldwide acclaim. In March 2016, he wrote the Institute of Directors Cyber White Paper ‘Cyber Security – underpinning the Digital Economy’.[6] This was followed by 'Cyber Security: Ensuring Business is Ready for the 21st Century in March 2017.
In 2018, Benham founded The Cyber Trust, a charity for victims of digital abuse,[7] and has also served as an anti-bullying ambassador for The Diana Awards. He was nominated for the UK Digital Leader of the Year in 2017 for his work with Cyber4Schools. He later established The National Cyber Awards, an independent initiative publicly supported by the Prime Minister, Security Minister, GCHQ, NHS and NCSC, as well many of the world’s leading technology companies.[8] In 2023, following the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park, Benham established The National AI Awards and The Turing Summit to bring the AI and innovation communities together.