Mar 03, 2020 11:45:00

141 companies claim to acquire personal information leak confirmation site 'Have I Been Pwned?', But stop selling

Your email address and password will tell whether or not leaked on the Internet, '

Have I Been Pwned? Troy Hunt's operator of (HIBP)', the company bid of also 141 companies in the acquisition of HIBP Despite this, it was revealed that the sale of HIBP was ultimately abandoned and that the company would continue to operate alone as before.

Troy Hunt: Project Svalbard, Have I Been Pwned and its Ongoing Independence
https://www.troyhunt.com/project-svalbard-have-i-been-pwned-and-its-ongoing-independence/

HIBP has been operated by one Hunt since 2013, but in 2019 the number of visits to the site surged. Hunt, who felt the limitations of operating alone, said in June 2019, `` HIBP has abundant resources and funds and more than I alone from the stage where one man can do as much time as he can. It's time to move to an organization that can do much, 'he wrote in his blog post , revealing his intention to sell HIBP. Hunt named the sale of HIBP ' Project Svalbard ' and asked KPMG , an international accounting firm, to look for an acquisition of HIBP.

`` Have I been pwned? '' That tells you if your email address has leaked for free is recruiting buyers-gigazine

Hunt cited the following goals as an inevitable part of selling HIBP:

・ The function to confirm the leak of personal information should remain freely available after the acquisition.
・ Mr. Hunt himself is essentially a part of HIBP, and I would like to keep working on it in the future.
・ I want to be able to build many functions that I cannot do alone.
・ I want more people to use HIBP to signal the danger of a data breach.
・ We want to use HIBP to change consumers' online security awareness and behavior.
-Organizations as well as individuals should benefit more from HIBP.
・ I want to disclose and collect more data.

In response to Hunt's offer to sell, there were 141 companies that offered to buy HIBP. Hunt met with all 141 potential buyer companies, narrowed down to 43 companies that seemed to meet the above goals, and proceeded with further meetings.

However, Hunt's thinking changed significantly shortly after all the acquisition meetings in San Francisco. A man who may be Hunt's boss, an employee of a major IT company that is a candidate for HIBP, said, 'Please explain what a perfect day in your office is like.' He asked a question.

Hunt said, 'This question is reasonable,' but he said, 'I felt very uncomfortable.' 'I love my independent life. I am ready to work for the company. However, I should work for a company that suits me, and many companies that bought HIBP felt that it was not for me. ' The day after the question was asked, Hunt received an email from the user thanking HIBP, and he realized how important the trust of HIBP users was to him.

Meanwhile, in order to respond to due

diligence from buyer companies who have obtained exclusive bargaining rights, Hunt said, `` Minutes of the Board of Directors '', `` Methods of Technology Operation '', `` Management Method of HIBP '', `` Dependency with Cloudflare '' He said that he had to document thousands of items. `` The first visitor is away from the deal, and the legal department and the lawyer of the buyer doing the due diligence know what 'HIBP is', '' Hunt said while working on a months-long due diligence response. 'There is no such thing.' 'If negotiations break down, if we have to negotiate with other buyer companies, it may take a lot of effort again,' he said, and said that there was considerable frustration.

However, it all ended when the exclusive bargaining buyer finally withdrew from the HIBP acquisition. With only enough stress to hinder real life and a huge bill, Hunt said he would stop Project Svalbard and not sell HIBP. Hunt said, `` It will take time to recover, '' he said, resting for a while, but said, `` I want to realize the ideas that have been warmed up in recent years at HIBP in 2020. '' He says he will concentrate on the operation of HIBP with more enthusiasm and energy.