Have I Been S0ld? Troy Hunt's security website is up for acquisition
Troy Hunt, inventor and operator of the popular security website Have I Been Pwned (HIBP), is putting the service up for sale.
Hunt, a Microsoft Regional Director and MVP for security, created the site in 2013 after Adobe leaked 153 million usernames and weakly encrypted passwords. Users can enter an email address and discover if it is included in the exposed data. You can also enter a password to see if it features in a data breach.
The site was soon extended with data from other breaches and now contains nearly 8 billion records. HIBP publishes an API which gets over 12 million hits a day, most of them checking whether a password is safe to use. Mozilla's Firefox is one of a number of products that integrates with the API to help users choose strong passwords. Commercial subscribers, governments and law enforcement agencies use the service too.
Hunt said in this weeks' announcement that "to date, every line of code, every configuration and every breached record has been handled by me alone. There is no 'HIBP team', there's one guy keeping the whole thing afloat."
He said that maintaining the site has been stressful and has taken him close to burnout. He believes it is time to put the business up for acquisition, which he is doing with KPMG.
The acquisition project is called Project Svalbard, in tribute to a Norwegian effort to store a vault of seeds to protect against future loss. "It sounds like a befitting name, beginning with the obvious analogy of storing a massive quantity of 'units'," Hunt said.
The question everyone will be asking: will the service get worse? Hunt said he will remain part of HIBP and that consumer searches will still be free. The idea is that a bigger organisation will enable him to build out more capabilities.
He also wants to put more effort into changing the behaviour of both individuals and organisations, in respect of their poor security practices.
Hunt has fallen behind, he said, on responsible disclosure – informing organisations that they have been breached. This he called "massively burdensome".
When will it happen? No hurry said, Hunt. "I'm not under any duress (not beyond the high workload, that is) and I've got time to let the acquisition search play out organically and allow it to find the best possible match for the project."
But he does not want to lead a new nonprofit even with sponsorship from other companies, believing that this would increase rather than reduce the stress he is under.
The site performs an excellent, though dispiriting, service. Those of us who have had active email accounts for many years are likely to feature multiple times in the HIBP database. Your correspondent's, for example, is in 20 data breaches including Adobe, Bit.ly, Creative, Disqus, Dropbox, Kickstarter, Last.FM, MySpace and vBulletin, as reported by HIBP.
Sane security today means unique passwords for every site and a password manager, along with other strategies like multi-factor authentication, but take-up is weak as data from services like Microsoft's Office 365 demonstrates.
source theregister
Industry: Cyber Security
Latest Jobs
-
- CONTRACT- Security engineer AWS | SIEM. OUTSIDE IR35
- London
- Outside IR35
-
Security engineer AWS | SIEM. CONTRACT OUTSIDE IR35 Deep understanding of AWS Security (Security Hub, Guard duty, Firewall Manager etc) Extensive experience with the development, implementation, monitoring and optimisation of SIEM solutions. Experience working within a cloud migration environment. Additional key experience with Hardening, DevOps, PKI etc Financial Service experience preferred. London Outside IR 35
-
- Architect | Cyber Security | Public sector Permanent
- Cheltenham
- N/A
-
Architect | Cyber Security | Public sector Permanent Seeking a Security Architect with Public Sector / Cloud Security experience for a lead technical role. Public sector security architecture design experience essential. (MoD) Current project experience delivering HLD / assurance of computer networks / build evaluations. Active Security clearance required. If you are open to hear about a new / exclusive opportunity where you are interested to be more than a number in a company reach out to team today. Chris.holt@dclsearch.com 07884666351
-
- CIAM Architect Azure B2C
- N/A
- N/A
-
We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Azure B2C CIAM Architect for a contract starting on Jan 2024. As an Azure B2C CIAM Architect, you will be responsible for designing, implementing, and deploying an new Azure B2C Solution . Responsibilities: Design and implement an Azure B2C-based CIAM solution that meets the needs of our clients organization. Maintain and support the Azure B2C-based CIAM solution. Provide training and support to our employees on the use of the CIAM solution. Background designing, implementing, and maintaining CIAM solutions. Experience with cloud-based identity and access management (IAM) solutions. Experience with OAuth, OpenID Connect,and SAML. Excellent written and verbal communication skills
-
- Senior IAM Consultant
- Germany
- Upto €110,000 depending on level of position
-
Senior IAM Consultant is needed to help lead and deploy IAM Projects for this expand IAM Consultancy The ideal candidate will have a deep understanding of IAM concepts and technologies, as well as experience in deploying and managing complex IAM solutions. Responsibilities Lead the deployment of IAM solutions for our clients Work with clients to understand their IAM requirements and design solutions that meet their needs Configure and implement IAM solutions using best practices Integrate IAM solutions with other enterprise systems Provide training and support to clients on the use of IAM solutions Stay up-to-date on the latest IAM technologies and trends We are looking for an experieneced IAM Consutlatn with: Strong understanding of IAM concepts and technologies,including identity lifecycle management,access control,and authentication Experience in deploying and managing complex IAM solutions Experience with IAM products and solutions,such as SailPoint,One Identity Manager,and Azure Active Directory Excellent communication and interpersonal skills Ability to work independently and as part of a team Fluent in German Candidates witll need to live and have the right to work within Germany to be considered.