OSVDB Recognized as 501(c)3 Non-Profit Organization

OSVDB Recognized as 501(c)3 Non-Profit Organization

The Open Source Vulnerability Database, a project to catalog and 
describe the world's security vulnerabilities, has continued to focus on 
improving database content and increasing services offered to the 
security community.

Since the official launch of OSVDB in March 2004, the vulnerability 
database has grown from 1000 to over 6700 complete entries. This rapid 
growth has far surpassed initial estimates, and the project’s many 
successes show that the open source community can truly deliver 
world-class security information.

OSVDB’s rapid success is directly attributed to the dedicated volunteers 
who help populate, maintain and enhance the database. Their hard work 
has already allowed OSVDB to exceed the amount of vulnerability 
information available in some databases. At the current rate of growth, 
the project is poised to surpass the other vulnerability databases by 
the end of 2005.  “It will soon become mandatory for security 
professionals to use OSVDB if they want the most thorough information 
available,†says Brian Martin, one of the project leaders.

The OSVDB leadership team has been aggressively working to ensure the 
long term viability of the project.  After improving content to be 
recognized as an industry leader, the team determined that incorporating 
as a non-profit organization was imperative to OSVDB’s future success. 
Founded to formally run the OSVDB project, the Open Security Foundation 
has been approved as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization under United 
States law. Jake Kouns, OSVDB project lead, says, “Achieving our 
non-profit status will allow us to seek funding and ensure free 
vulnerability information will be available for years to come.â€

Two of the OSVDB project leaders, Brian Martin and Jake Kouns, will be 
presenting a talk called “Vulnerability Databases: Everything is 
Vulnerable†at cansecwest/core05 (http://www.cansecwest.com/) in May 
2005.  The presentation aims to provide an unbiased review of 
vulnerability databases, and addresses the value they should provide to 
security practitioners.

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More Information:

Jake Kouns
Open Source Vulnerability Database Project
+1.804.306.8412
[email protected]