From Dame Allan’s to Digital Defence

When Professor Daniel Dresner stood before Dame Allan’s Senior School pupils, few could have guessed that the softly spoken academic once danced past the then girls’ library to Morecambe and Wise routines in his schoolboy days...

Now the first Professor of Cyber Security at the University of Manchester, he had returned not for nostalgia, but to inform and inspire the next generation. Delivering a talk in the Queen’s Building, his intention was clear: to open pupils’ eyes to the very real—and very human—issues at the heart of cyber security.

“I came on a mission,” he said. “This wasn’t just a nostalgic visit; this is part of my job—showing young people the opportunities and responsibilities that come with living in a digital world.”

Despite holding an academic post at one of the UK’s top universities and being recognised globally as a cyber security influencer, Daniel remained grounded and sincere in his reflections. He spoke with warmth about his time at Dame Allan’s and credited the school with sparking the scientific curiosity that eventually shaped his career.

He recalled, in particular, a worn, rebound copy of the 1950s series Quatermass and the Pit discovered in the boys’ library—“falling apart but utterly fascinating”—which ignited his interest in logic, investigation and science fiction. “It wasn’t just the story that gripped me—it was the scientific reasoning, the way evidence was used to understand what was going on,” he said. “It lit something up in me.”

Years later, Daniel would become known not only for championing cyber security practices but for the way he communicates their importance. His talk to Dame Allan’s pupils was a lesson in making the complex compelling—ranging from pacemaker hacking to chocolate bar economics and the vulnerabilities of GPS and traffic lights.

One of his key messages was that cyber threats are not just technical—they’re profoundly human.

“Most cyber attacks don’t begin with some genius coder cracking systems,” he explained. “They start with social engineering. People being tricked into giving access, clicking the wrong link, trusting the wrong source. Just like vampires, hackers need to be invited in.”

He encouraged students to see themselves not just as users of technology but as future protectors of it. “Cyber security is about more than passwords and firewalls. It’s about thinking critically, staying alert—not alarmed—and understanding how people and systems interact,” he said. 

Daniel’s own career path was far from linear. After graduating from what was then Manchester Polytechnic, he began in traffic light and motorway systems before moving to the National Computing Centre, where he spent 22 years. A champion for small businesses’ cyber safety, he co-founded IASME (a cyber security certification company), helped develop the government’s Cyber Essentials scheme and now leads innovation and outreach through Manchester’s Digital Security Hub (DiSH) and the University’s Centre for Digital Trust and Society.

He’s also a gifted communicator, delivering cyber defence lectures to Chevening scholars, who are undertaking Masters Degrees in the UK, and has revived the legendary Ratio Club—a post-war gathering of pioneering scientists and cybernetics thinkers—bringing its spirit of interdisciplinary innovation into the modern age. Most importantly to him, Daniel is sparking curiosity in future generations.

“There’s so much to do,” he told students. “The army can’t do it all. GCHQ can’t do it all. We need people like you, who understand that the internet isn’t just code and cables—it’s people.”

Back in his school days, Daniel was inspired by a comment from Don Walker, then Deputy Head, who told him: “One day your boss will hand you a huge pile of paper and ask for a one-page summary.” It was, Daniel said, the best explanation he’d ever heard of what intelligence work really is.

“I didn’t appreciate it at the time,” he admitted. “But it turned out to be the foundation for my work in technical writing, risk communication and cyber defence. One sentence can change a life.”

That’s why, he said, he was committed to making his recent visit count. Speaking to pupils not just as a professor, but as someone who once sat where they sat. And he inspired pupils to think about cyber not as a separate discipline, but as part of every future career path. Whether in law, medicine, engineering or education, he reminded them that digital safety and ethical awareness will matter.

He left pupils with a challenge: to take up the mantle of cyber guardianship, not with fear—but with curiosity, courage and a commitment to making the digital world safer for all.