Pete Cooper is the Deputy Director of Cyber Defence in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom, and was a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Cyber Statecraft Initiative. The first part of his twenty-four-year career in the UK Royal Air Force (RAF), was as a fast jet pilot and instructor on the Tornado GR4. He then became an early member of the UK Ministry of Defense (MoD) Joint Cyber Unit, developing and integrating cyber operations into UK and MoD processes. His final position was in MoD Joint Forces Cyber Group where he was the strategic cyber operations adviser, playing a key role in developing policies, concepts, and doctrine both nationally and internationally.

Pete has an MSc in cyberspace operations from Cranfield University. His dissertation on adding a cognitive dimension to active cyber defense was published by the Journal of Law and Cyber Warfare and explored how a better understanding of attacker psychology could be used to augment legal active cyber defense methodologies. He is also a certified information systems security professional (CISSP). Since leaving the RAF in 2016 he has been advising nationally and internationally on cybersecurity challenges and opportunities, supporting various organizations in developing their strategies. He is also a passionate supporter for the Cyber 9/12 policy and strategy competition, which has seen him present and judge at competitions in both the United States and Europe. As founder and former director of Cyber 9/12 UK, he lead the rollout of the competition in the UK.