Craig Ford Blends Cybersecurity with Storytelling

Empowering Young Readers Through Fiction and Digital Awareness

Craig Ford blends his cybersecurity expertise with creative storytelling to empower young readers, break stereotypes, and promote digital awareness through acclaimed books like Foresight and The Shadow World.

Craig Ford is a force to be reckoned with—equal parts cyber expert, educator, and imaginative storyteller. With a background deeply rooted in cybersecurity, Ford has taken an extraordinary leap from technical writing into the dynamic world of young adult fiction and children’s literature, and the results are nothing short of inspiring. His award-winning books Foresight and The Shadow World don’t just entertain—they educate, empower, and ignite curiosity in readers of all ages, particularly young women and children who are so often left out of conversations about technology.

Ford’s work is both educational and engaging, offering fresh, authentic perspectives that inspire a new generation of tech-savvy and confident young readers.

At Mosaic Digest Magazine, we are proud to spotlight authors who aren’t afraid to challenge stereotypes, break barriers, and use their craft to create meaningful change. Through his compelling characters and real-world experience, Ford dismantles outdated notions about hacking and gender roles in tech, replacing them with empowering narratives that show cyber is not just a boy’s club—and never was.

In this insightful interview, Craig Ford shares the motivations behind his work, the powerful message behind his characters, and his ongoing mission to build a more cyber-aware world. His passion for technology and inclusivity shines through every word, and we’re honoured to share his voice with our readers.

Your background in cybersecurity is extensive. What inspired you to transition from technical writing to crafting young adult fiction like Foresight? 

Foresight was born out of a desire to help encourage more young women an interest in Cyber Security. I had been writing a regular column for the Women in Security Magazine and I wanted to do more. What could I do as a man in the industry, as a writer. Well, I chose to create Sam (Samantha) a teenage hacker and show my readers that cyber is cool, its not just a boys club and give them a character that is based on real world experience in this space so they can go – Wow maybe I could be her.  

It also gives men in the industry a new perspective, seeing an amazing female character, change minds both boys and Girls for the better.  

Oh and it was also really fun to dive down the rabbit hole for my readers to get a picture of the hacker world.  

In Foresight, you introduce Samantha, a teenage hacker navigating complex digital challenges. How did you develop her character, and what message do you hope she conveys to readers? 

I wanted to create a character to inspire young women, to show them that cyber is a cool career choice. Outside of that I wanted to show readers what the hacker world is like, yes with a little bit of a Hollywood flare  (you can’t have a reader engaged if a hack takes 6 months to achieve). I think its important to have that real world character, someone that could be you, it could be the girl next door and have it break the hacker in the hoodie stereotype that has long plagued the industry.  

I am more likely to wear a suit then a hoodie and that is true for most hackers in this space. So basically I wanted to break the mould of two stereotypes – Hacker hoodies and that this is a boys club. Its neither of those things in reality.  

You’ve co-authored The Shadow World, a children’s book on cyber safety. What motivated you to create educational content for younger audiences, and how has the reception been? 

The Shadow World is an amazing book that I am very proud to have coauthored. Teaching kids as young as 5-6 how to safely navigate the online world is super important, we need to set real world behaviours at a really young age before the bad behaviours that many adults have are set in. It is much harder to break the lifetime of bad habbits then it is to teach that right way, right from the start.  

The response and feedback has been massively positive. It reached best seller status withing weeks of being released and with recent awards it doesn’t appear to be slowing down.  

“We need to set real world behaviours at a really young age before the bad behaviours that many adults have are set in.” – Craig Ford

Both Foresight and The Shadow World have received accolades, including recognition from the Independent Press Award. How have these honors impacted your mission to promote cyber education? 

These awards are amazing at helping to continue to drive my mission to educate the world on cyber safety. It will help the new cyber education platform we have just launched with a mobile app to really give everyday people the essential cyber awareness right across mums and dads, seniors, kids and small businesses.  

This passion to bridge the gap will likely drive me to both grow this platform and create many more books in the future. Its too important not to drive change where I can. These awards and others will definitely help do that.  

As a male author writing a strong female protagonist in a male-dominated field, how do you approach authenticity and representation in your storytelling? 

I am a little lucky as I have five sisters, so I have a little insight but honestly I have an amazing editor Steph who ensured I walked the line correctly as I wanted to ensure it was authentic and really hit the mark with my target audience.  

Its always hard to try to ensure you do it justice though but I feel like I have done reasonably well with Foresight and my character Sam.  

With the rapid evolution of technology, what future topics or themes do you plan to explore in your upcoming works to continue educating and engaging your readers? 

100% it is moving at lightning speed, its hard to keep pace sometimes but I would like to explore the autonomous vehicles more, I think there is a lot that is going to happen in this area especially as AI and quantum computing really explodes. It is a very interesting world we are living in over the next decade and I think I am going to continue to find inspertaion of both my novels and educational books from these three spaces. 

The crazy thing to consider is what technologies will be coming that we cant even contemplate yet, robotics/AI and so much more is happening. What is next. 

FORESIGHT by Craig Ford

Craig Ford’s FORESIGHT is an electrifying story that hooks readers right from the start. Samantha’s double life as a teenager and a brilliant hacker, Foresight, is both captivating and thrilling. Ford masterfully crafts a world pulsing with tension, suspense, and the allure of the hacker underground. The character development is brilliant, and Sam’s inner conflict adds emotional depth to the exhilarating narrative. With clever twists and impeccable pacing, this book keeps you on the edge of your seat. A must-read for fans of tech-savvy thrillers, FORESIGHT is a brilliant debut to an exciting series.