Why the Future of Security and Digital Safety Is Personal – Interview with Christopher A. Smith

Christopher A. Smith is an award-winning author, entrepreneur, and digital safety advocate who turned an invasive cyberattack into a mission to protect others.

After experiencing a multilayered identity theft scheme that spanned continents, Smith rebuilt not just his digital life but his sense of purpose. His journey became the foundation for his acclaimed book Privacy Pandemic, a first-hand exploration of how cybercrime and identity theft affect not only businesses and governments, but the people behind them. Through expert insight, it reveals the emotional toll on victims who often believe it could never happen to them and, when it does, rarely find the courage to speak about it.

Today, Smith uses his story to bridge the gap between the experts who design technology and the people it’s meant to protect. Through advocacy, storytelling, and education, he’s helping shift the global conversation around digital safety, online privacy, and human resilience, reminding us that the future of security is personal because the threat already is.

Christopher A. Smith, Author & Digital Safety Advocate

Who is Christopher A. Smith?

Right now, I’m an author, founder, and digital safety advocate focused on protecting people from the same kinds of digital threats that once upended my own life. I’m not a cybersecurity expert in the traditional sense. I’m someone who learned, through experience, that security can be and is deeply personal.

I help others understand that the future of digital safety depends on protecting the person behind every device, every account, and every click. My story isn’t just about being hacked, it’s about what happens after.

Along the way, I learned from experts and from other victims who taught me about courage, recovery, and resilience. Those experiences changed not only how I see security, but who I've become.

What unique transformation do you deliver for companies when protecting digital identity and privacy?

What I try to help companies realize is that protecting data starts with protecting people. Too often, cybersecurity is treated largely as a technical challenge, with firewalls, policies, passwords, and encryption. But the real transformation happens when leaders start to see it as a human-behavior challenge.

Security, at its core, is about trust between employer and employee, between brand and customer, between human and machine. Once that trust is built, organizations begin designing systems that protect both data and dignity. That’s when digital safety becomes sustainable.

What common digital risks do people and companies underestimate?

Most people still underestimate how personal cyberattacks have become. The image of a lone hacker in a dark room persists, but the truth is far more intimate. Breaches today often begin through personal connections, an email, a text, a file shared between friends, or a moment of misplaced trust.

Another underestimated risk is emotional vulnerability. Cybercriminals don’t just hack software. They hack emotions, fear, urgency, curiosity, and even love. That’s what social engineering is all about.

And then there’s complacency. We think it won’t happen to us until it does. Every year, data breaches and cybercrime cost trillions globally, and the human cost, stress, shame, and lost confidence are rarely measured. My goal is to help people see that personal safety and digital safety are now the same. Awareness and preparation are no longer optional.

How did your own experience with identity theft shape your mission and methods?

That experience reshaped everything. When I was attacked, I lost control of my digital life, my accounts, communications, and even my sense of privacy. But what stayed with me wasn’t the technical fallout, it was the emotional toll.

It’s hard to describe what it feels like to realize your life has been compromised by someone you trusted. What saved me were the people who stepped in cybersecurity experts, digital forensics professionals, privacy attorneys, and law enforcement. They taught me that recovery begins not with fear, but with awareness and action. It was a crash course I wasn't ready for.

That’s what inspired Privacy Pandemic, not to relive the breach, but to make sense of it. I wanted to show that the true cost of cybercrime isn’t just financial, it’s also emotional. It’s about privacy, peace of mind, and the confidence we lose and rebuild when our digital lives are compromised.

What is the biggest mistake organizations make when securing their human “attack surface”?

In my opinion, the biggest mistake organizations make is failing to invest in tools and culture that protect the people who are the business. Every year, billions go into firewalls, encryption, and endpoint protection, yet breaches keep rising. Why? Because people remain the common denominator.

About 74% of breaches involve human behavior or manipulation. Most companies still blur the line between personal and professional life through Bring-Your-Own-Device policies. When an employee’s personal account is compromised, it often spills into their corporate environment.

The truth is, most breaches start with a human moment, a click, a download, a shared password, or misplaced trust. That doesn’t make people the problem, it makes them the priority.

How does DFend differ from traditional cybersecurity services?

Most identity protection tools are reactive. I know that because I tried them. When I was being attacked, I subscribed to one of the biggest identity protection companies in the world, and they couldn’t stop it. They didn’t protect me, they just cleaned up after the fact and even told me that the 53 fraudulent uses of my Social Security number didn’t qualify for their insurance coverage.

That’s when I got focused. DFend was built on a simple belief, people deserve proactive, 24/7 digital protection. Just as we install locks and alarms to protect our homes, our digital lives deserve intelligent safeguards that understand our habits and flag anomalies before something goes wrong. We focus on the person, not just the password. That’s the future of protection, in my opinion.

What measurable outcomes can clients expect when working with you?

The first thing people notice isn’t a statistic, it’s understanding. After speaking with dozens of victims and professionals, I’ve learned that transformation begins when people finally feel safe again. Once people feel safe again, they can turn that awareness into preparation.

That sense of security changes everything, how they think, how they work, and how they live. Once that mindset shifts, the metrics follow, fewer phishing incidents, faster detection, stronger authentication habits, and higher engagement with digital safety.

But the most powerful outcome isn’t technical, it’s emotional. When someone says, “For the first time, I feel in control of my digital security,” that’s success.

At what point should a company or individual reach out, before it’s too late?

Ideally, long before they think they need to. Most people and organizations reach out after a crisis, a breach, a ransomware attack, or a public fallout, but prevention is far less painful than recovery.

Digital safety works a lot like health, you don’t wait for a heart attack to start exercising. You build resilience before the crisis hits. The same principle applies to cybersecurity awareness and identity protection. Every day you delay, someone else is advancing their attack.

How do you stay ahead of evolving threats like AI-driven attacks?

Artificial intelligence is changing everything. From deepfake scams to synthetic identity fraud to real-time voice cloning. But the same technology that fuels these threats can also be used to protect us.

The key is combining technology with human intuition and emotional intelligence. AI can detect patterns, but it can’t replicate empathy or gut instinct. That’s why education, awareness, and collaboration matter.

I work closely with cybersecurity experts, behavioral scientists, and most importantly, victims. They often see the next wave of cybercrime before anyone else does.

Can you share a case where you prevented or reversed a major breach?

That’s a great question, and it actually highlights how most people still view cybersecurity as a single event rather than an ongoing process.

My focus isn’t on one-time “breach fixes.” It’s on building digital resilience so that when something does happen, people will be ready. Hackers test vulnerabilities quietly before the “main event.” The real work is helping individuals and teams recognize early warning signs, prepare, and respond calmly and effectively.

What are three simple steps any organization can take right now to reduce vulnerability?

First: Talk about it. Make digital safety part of everyday culture. Silence is what keeps threats alive.

Second: Protect your people the same way you protect your systems. Train them with empathy, not fear.

Third: When mistakes happen, they will respond with understanding, not blame. Shame is the enemy of security.

Cybersecurity doesn’t begin or end with technology. It starts with people, the ones who use your systems, hold your data, and represent your trust.

What makes you confident you’re the right person to guide others through digital identity protection?

Because I’ve lived it, and I’ve moved beyond it. I’m open about what happened to me because most people are not comfortable sharing their story. I had the resources, the drive to find answers, built the relationships, and learned from some of the brightest global minds in cybersecurity, digital forensics, identity theft, and privacy law.

That experience gave me something no certification ever could, perspective. My mission now is simple, to make sure what happened to me doesn’t happen to anyone else. It's an ambitious goal, I know. But if sharing my story means being vulnerable, I’m okay with that. Vulnerability creates connection, and connection is where real progress begins.

Closing thoughts: The future of security is personal because the threat already is. Awareness and preparation aren’t luxuries, they’re essentials.

The first step toward protection is simply starting the conversation. Grab your copy of Privacy Pandemic.

“The future of security is personal because the threat already is.”

Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info!

Read more from Christopher A. Smith