TippingPoint ZDI defectors launch new vulnerability buying program
A group of former employees at HP TippingPoint Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) have defected and formed a new company that will be involved with buying the rights to zero-day software vulnerabilities.
The new company, called Exodus Intelligence, was founded by Aaron Portnoy and a group of ex-ZDI researchers who suddenly left HP TippingPoint a few months ago around the time HP was preparing for a massive round of layoffs.
At the time, an HP spokesperson told me that Portnoy “decided to move on” and insisted the company’s ZDI vulnerability purchasing program remained “strong.” Exodus Intelligence is planning to launch the Exodus Intelligence Program (EIP), a vulnerability purchasing program that compensates independent security researchers around the globe for their vulnerability discoveries. Once a flaw is validated, Exodus plans to report the flaws to the affected vendors and coordinate the disclosure process.
