Name: Gray Day: My Undercover Mission to Expose America's First Cyber Spy
Author: Eric O’Neill

Speaking Fee $23,000–$28,000

Eric O’Neill is a former FBI counterintelligence operative and cybersecurity strategist who helped bring down the most damaging spy in U.S. history. His riveting keynotes expose the modern threats of cybercrime and give audiences real tools to protect themselves.

Meet Eric O’Neill

Eric O’Neill speaks about protecting your organization against the ever-rising tide of cybercrime. A former FBI operative and current national security attorney, Eric helped capture the most damaging spy in U.S. history—Robert Hanssen—and now teaches organizations how to think like spy hunters to defend themselves. Known for customizing each keynote and captivating audiences with gripping, true-life espionage stories, Eric brings energy, insight, and unforgettable value to the stage. He is well-known for his keynote and motivational speaking. Eric O’Neill is available to be booked for corporate and private events. Contact the Mollie Plotkin Group today to inquire about Eric O’Neill’s fees.

Want to book Eric O’Neill for an event?

Contact the Mollie Plotkin Group at 215-995-0905 to book Eric O’Neill for a keynote speech, corporate event, leadership program, workshop, fireside chat, virtual appearance, or other private or professional event.

Our team will help confirm Eric O’Neill’s availability, speaking fee, travel requirements, and fit for your audience. To start the booking process, please share your event date, location, audience size, event format, and the type of presentation you are looking for.

The Mollie Plotkin Group is a full-service keynote speaker agency and entertainment bureau that helps organizations secure keynote speakers, entertainers, athletes, celebrities, and thought leaders for corporate meetings, conferences, fundraisers, and special events.

Biography

From FBI “Ghost” to Cybercrime Strategist

Eric O’Neill began his career deep in the FBI’s counterintelligence trenches, where he operated undercover to help take down the most notorious spy in U.S. history, Robert Hanssen. Infiltrating the newly formed Information Assurance Division, Eric used his ability to earn trust and stay two steps ahead to catch a spy whose betrayal threatened national security. That story was immortalized in the major motion picture Breach, where Ryan Phillippe portrayed Eric on the big screen.

Since then, Eric has spent two decades in the private sector as a national security attorney, investigator, and cybersecurity expert. He is the founder of The Georgetown Group, a premier security services firm, and serves as a strategist to major cybersecurity companies. He’s also the author of the bestselling Gray Day and the upcoming Spies, Lies, and Cybercrime (HarperCollins, 2025).

Cybersecurity Authority with Unmatched Credentials

Eric’s experience inside the FBI, on the front lines of cybercrime, and within the dark web gives him rare insight into the tactics and psychology of today’s most dangerous adversaries. He is a trusted media expert whose insights have been featured on CNN, NPR, Fox, TechCrunch, and Fresh Air with Terry Gross. His keynote addresses are designed to educate, entertain, and equip, giving audiences actionable techniques they can use to strengthen digital defenses and make smarter security decisions in their work and personal lives.

Hollywood & Headlines

In addition to being the subject of Breach, Eric has worked as a consultant on spy thrillers, documentaries, and TV series, including Spy Wars with Damian Lewis and FBI True. His real-life exploits, combined with his captivating stage presence, have made him a go-to speaker for top companies, cybersecurity summits, and international conferences.

How to Hire Eric O’Neill

To hire Eric O’Neill for an event, contact the Mollie Plotkin Group with the proposed event date, location, audience size, event format and program goals. Eric O’Neill is available for corporate events, conferences, leadership meetings, private events, workshops, fireside chats and virtual programs.

After receiving your request, a Mollie Plotkin Group booking agent will review Eric O’Neill’s availability, discuss the event details and get back to you within 48 hours with next steps for securing Eric O’Neill for your program.

Eric O’Neill Booking Fee

The cost to book Eric O’Neill depends on the event date, location, format, audience size and scope of the appearance. Eric O’Neill’s speaking fee ranges from $23,000 to $28,000. Speaking fees may vary for keynote speeches, workshops, fireside chats, private events, corporate meetings and virtual programs.

For the most accurate Eric O’Neill booking fee, contact the Mollie Plotkin Group with your event details. Our team will help confirm availability, pricing and the best format for your event.

Speaking Topics & Programs

Cybersecurity: Spies, Lies, Cybercrime, and You

Dive headfirst into the battleground where foreign spies, deepfakes, and Dark Web criminals conspire to steal from you. Today’s adversaries are relentless and cunning. They’re exploiting every vulnerability, deploying an arsenal of generative AI bots and bandits. As we hurtle towards the future, cybertheft will take over $20 trillion from organizations just like yours. Join cybersecurity expert and legendary FBI spy hunter Eric O’Neill in this unexpected presentation. With fresh stories that read like a thriller, Eric teaches you to think like a spy catcher and win.

Key Takeaways:

Understand why cybercrime is the fastest-growing business on earth.
Understand the connection between espionage and dark web cybercrime.
Learn counterintelligence techniques to protect yourself and your company from cybercrime.
Learn to think like a spy hunter

Secrets from a Legendary Spyhunter: Decoding AI Deepfakes, Extortion & More

AI-generated voices, texts, and images pose a grave threat to national security—and you. The latest jaw-dropping stories include kidnapping calls to parents who hear their child’s wrenching cries for help. Elaborate video conferences that dupe teams into funding projects by bad actors. Ransomware from cyber-extortionists who hold your data hostage. In a world where technology drives our lives, you must take new steps to protect yourself and your organization. With his characteristic wit and storytelling, cybersecurity expert and legendary spyhunter Eric O’Neill tells you how to identify AI-fueled attacks…and stop them from taking your money.

Key Takeaways:

Understand how Generative AI has allowed cybercriminals to scale operations and improve attacks.
Understand how cybercriminals use deepfakes to deceive victims.
Learn how new advances in AI will change security.
Learn what you can do to protect yourself from deepfake cyber attacks.

Also available:

Data Is the Currency Of Our Lives: This Is How to Protect Yours
Cybercrime: How Thieves Gain Your Trust, Break It, and Win
Gray Day: The Inspirational Story of Catching the FBI’s Most Damaging Spy

Eric was a recent keynote speaker at Liongard’s inaugural cybersecurity user event and he was a phenomenal choice. Not only did he relate his message and story from his time with the FBI back to what Liongard does…he stayed and engaged with our partners and customers. He is incredibly intelligent, engaging as a speaker and also down to earth and humble. I’d highly recommend leveraging him as a top security/business evangelist and keynote speaker. – Liongard

Eric hit home with the importance of protecting our data with real examples. The threat is REAL, and people need to take it seriously – Qualcomm

The highlight of our conference. He was engaging, animated, charming, and able to extract relevant business lessons from his experience with the FBI. – Johnny Rockets

Absolutely fantastic! Eric’s energy kept our audience captivated with his FBI stories – ExtraHop

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Featured Book

Spies, Lies, and Cybercrime: Cybersecurity Tactics to Outsmart Hackers and Disarm Scammers

National security strategist and former FBI counterintelligence operative Eric O’Neill exposes how nefarious cybercriminals relentlessly attempt to access your data and wallet, and arms you with his proven tactics for spotting and neutralizing cyberthreats to protect yourself, your family, and your business.

Cybercriminals, domestic and foreign, are launching attacks day and night using malware, phishing scams, deepfakes, artificial intelligence, and other unscrupulous schemes designed to steal your data and hold it hostage. When they win, it costs nations, businesses, and individuals trillions of dollars annually.

It’s possible to fight back, but it’ll take more than a strong password. Drawing on his years of experience as an FBI spy hunter and national security strategist, Eric O’Neill casts light on these malicious actors’ tactics for stealing personal data and exploiting victims. Armed with this knowledge, O’Neill shares his method—called PAID—that you can use to defend yourself and stop attackers in their tracks:

Prepare: Pinpoint your most critical data, identify where it resides and who can access it, and build your defenses around it.
Assess: Continuously reassess your security and apply counterintelligence tactics to identify scams and cyberattacks..
Investigate: Stay educated and hunt the threat before the threat hunts you.
Decide: Using your new aptitude, make smart, rapid decisions under pressure..

Written by a top expert in the field, Spies, Lies, and Cybercrime offers easy-to-follow steps for staving off cyberattacks, securing data, and keeping private information safe in an increasingly digital and dizzying world.

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Also by Eric O’Neill

Gray Day: My Undercover Mission to Expose America's First Cyber Spy

Crown · 2019

Gray Day tells the true story of an undercover operation that helped expose FBI agent Robert Hanssen as a longtime Russian spy. The book follows a young operative placed beside a highly suspected colleague, tasked with earning trust while quietly gathering evidence. Part espionage thriller and part firsthand account, it reveals the tension, improvisation and personal risk behind one of the most consequential counterintelligence cases in FBI history.

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