About Binding Hook Live
About the Event
Binding Hook Live is a one-of-a-kind event bringing together leading voices in digital and emerging technologies and global affairs. Hosted by Binding Hook, part of Virtual Routes, this exclusive event takes place at the iconic Underbelly Boulevard Soho in London on October 27, 2025.
Designed to foster meaningful discussions in an intimate setting, Binding Hook Live offers a platform for world-class speakers and vetted attendees to explore cutting-edge topics. From AI-cybersecurity and cyber operations in Ukraine to supply chain challenges and surveillance, the event covers a wide spectrum of critical issues shaping today’s digital landscape.
The program features panels, keynotes, and lightning talks delivering expert perspectives and actionable insights. Set in a unique and atmospheric venue in London’s vibrant Soho district, Binding Hook Live’s venue facilitates unique set ups for interaction throughout the day.
About the Organisers
Binding Hook is a web outlet created by Virtual Routes to gather expert perspectives on digital and emerging technologies and security. It centres the conversation on Europe in its global context through opinions and analysis from practitioners and researchers.
James Shires
Co-Director
James Shires is the Co-Director of Virtual Routes, and the Managing Editor of Binding Hook. He is also a Fellow with The Hague Program on International Cyber Security. He was previously a Senior Research Fellow in Cyber Policy at Chatham House, and before that an Assistant Professor in Cybersecurity Governance at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, University of Leiden.
He has written widely on issues of cybersecurity and international politics, including cybersecurity expertise, digital authoritarianism, spyware regulation, and hack-and-leak operations. He is the author of The Politics of Cybersecurity in the Middle East (Hurst/Oxford University Press, 2021), and co-editor of Cyberspace and Instability (Edinburgh University Press, 2023). A full list of publications is available at jamesshires.com.
Max Smeets
Co-Director
Max Smeets is the Co-Director of Virtual Routes, and serves as Managing Editor of Binding Hook. He also holds research positions at ETH Zurich, the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation. Max is the author of Ransom War: How Cyber Crime Became a Threat to National Security and No Shortcuts: Why States Struggle to Develop a Military Cyber Force.
Max received a BA in Economics, Politics and Statistics from University College Roosevelt, Utrecht University and an MPhil (Brasenose College) and DPhil (St. John’s College) in International Relations from the University of Oxford.
Anni Adamson
Operations Manager
Anni Adamson is the Operations Manager at Virtual Routes.
In her previous positions, Anni dedicated her time to event planning and project management, marketing and social media management. She was the Day-to-Day Manager of the Estonian band Trad.Attack!, Marketing Manager at Estonia’s leading Postimees Media House and Head of Marketing at Postimees Publishing House. She also coordinated events and led the inspiration programme at Treski Music and Inspiration Centre and contributed to various other projects in the Estonian cultural sphere.
Anni holds a degree in Psychology and Communication from University of Tartu, Estonia.
Review Board
Jamie Collier
Jamie Collier is the Lead Threat Intelligence Advisor in EMEA at Google Cloud. He works with organisations to help them understand their threat landscape and build threat intelligence capabilities.
Jamie is also active within academia as an Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). Before joining Google, he was the Cyber Threat Intelligence Team Lead at Digital Shadows and completed a PhD in Cyber Security at the University of Oxford. Jamie was previously based at MIT as a Cyber Security Fulbright Scholar and has experience working with the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, Oxford Analytica, and PwC India.
Jamie has presented at numerous security conferences and his commentary is regularly included in media reports (including Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, and The Guardian).
Amy Ertan
Amy Ertan is a Cyber and Hybrid Policy Officer at NATO Headquarters where she supports the development of cyber policies and initiatives across the Alliance. Amy holds a PhD in Information Security from Royal Holloway University of London, where her doctoral research focused on the security implications of artificial intelligence in military contexts. Her broader research interests in cyber strategy and emerging security challenges have led to publications on topics including national cyber capabilities, military exercising, offensive cyber and cyber risk management. Previously, Amy was a Cyber Strategy Researcher at the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence and a Cybersecurity Fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
She is a former Co-Lead for the Offensive Cyber Working Group, an academic-led initiative bringing together diverse academic experts together to discuss and research offensive cyber themes. Amy has worked in private sector roles in cyber intelligence, cyber exercise design, and human factors cybersecurity research. She holds a Bachelor’s in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford and holds CISSP and CRTIA (threat intelligence) qualifications.
Harriet Gruen
Harriet is the Head of Cyber Threat Intelligence at Howden Re, building insurance focused threat intelligence products. Harriet has systemic risk modelling and threat intelligence experience in the insurance and financial services industry, including at AXIS Capital, Tokio Marine Group and HSBC. Harriet has an MSc from the London School of Economics and holds CISSP certification.
Jamie MacColl
Jamie is a Research Fellow in cyber security at the Royal United Services Institute. His current research interests include ransomware, the UK’s approach to offensive cyber operations, and the role of private companies in global cyber governance. He has led a range of public and private projects for RUSI, with a particular focus on UK cyber policy. Prior to joining RUSI, he worked in cyber threat intelligence where he provided strategic and operational intelligence analysis on the cyber threat landscape.
Jamie holds an MPhil in International Relations and Politics from the University of Cambridge, where his research focused on UK policy towards Russia since the end of the Cold War. He also holds a BA in War Studies from King’s College London, where he was awarded the Sir Michael Howard Excellence Award in 2016 and 2018. When he is not carrying out research into cyber threats and cyber security, Jamie can be found on stage with his band Bombay Bicycle Club.
Alexander Martin
Alexander Martin is the UK Editor for The Record. He was previously a technology reporter for Sky News in London. He studied English at the University of Cambridge and graduated in 2014. His reporting has examined how technological changes are affecting society and democratic institutions, and how in turn democratic institutions and society are affecting technological changes.
Daniel Moore
Dr. Daniel Moore has nearly 20 years of experience in the intersection of technology, intelligence and cyber. He holds a PhD from King’s College London and has held roles in the public and private sectors, including with the Israeli military, IBM, Accenture and Meta. Daniel has published extensively on security issues.