Ben Drummond is a computer security expert.
I had started this entry with his being an agent with GCHQ and that is often the case but since he runs his own small company, I felt that was more accurate. But technically he is 'attached' to that British intelligence organization though he also does work for other departments in the government as needed; case in point, when we meet him in the first recorded adventure, he is called into a case by the National Crime Agency in London. When he shows up at the scene of an upcoming raid, all the people he is meeting know about him is that he is someone in 'Computer Forensics' - that and he was considered important or vital enough to tell the NCA boots on the ground to leave their normal computer guy back in the office because Drummond would take his stead.
But as I said, he has his own business as a "specialist contractor' working out of a small corner property 'tucked just below Tower Bridge with a view onto the river". It isn't much but it fit his needs and that of the couple people who work for him.
Drummond ('Drum' is his preferred way of being addressed) has been a 'tech' guy for quite a while by the time we encounter him. This includes a few years serving in the British Army holding the rank of Captain in that organization's Signal's Intelligence. His service jacket shows he has definitely seen some action including two tours of duty in Afghanistan and one in Iraq. That was all a decade before our meeting, and though he "had worked hard to lose some of the rough edges that armed service had ground into him", "the Military had a way of leaving an indelible mark".
While Drummond's experience could have lead him into all manners of intelligence gathering, especially SIGINT, he had allowed his interests to evolve into the newer field of cyber warfare. In that discipline he is considered very proficient and quite in demand and he enjoys "a security clearance that's off the chart".
He is joined in his work by Alice Pritchard - "if that was ever her actual name" - shortly after our introduction. Pritchard works as his office manager and keeps his appointments straight and helps in a wide assortment of ways. This woman who is in her 60's has a fair amount of mystery surrounding her background with Drummond certain "that she had spent a considerable amount of time working for British Intelligence". "Alice's history and contacts in the security service had been invaluable to him over the past year."
Drummond is likely in his late 30's and is considered good looking by most of the women he encounters. He keeps himself in impressive condition which is very useful to him in his professional life because Drummond has found that being able to break through firewalls and server encryptions and discover hidden intel on all manner of computers from laptops to mainframes tends to upset those trying to keep the data hidden - and they are not at all reluctant to show their displeasure.