Michael “Monty” Widenius, founder of MySQL and a guru for the global open source movement, has invested in WOT, Web of Trust. WOT, a free community-driven security add-on that helps Internet users protect themselves against online threats, closed its second round of funding as the community exceeded 3 million downloads.
“When I first learned about WOT, I was intrigued because it answers the common question Internet users have – Can I trust this website? – by uniquely combining a community-driven approach, Internet resources and browser technology. The growth and success of MySQL was in many aspects due to our active user community. WOT’s big and active community shows a similar strength, and I like the fact that through WOT we are helping making the Internet a better and safer place,” said Widenius, who will take a seat on the company’s Board of Directors.
“We are excited about Monty joining our team and bringing his wealth of knowledge and contact network. Monty had a key role at MySQL when it grew to become an open source icon and the developer of the world’s most popular open source database. For Web of Trust this new injection of expertise and capital will help us to expedite our growth and take the company to the next level,” said CEO Esa Suurio.
The investors in the second round of funding include Finnish Industry Investment Ltd, an existing shareholder, and Open Ocean, the investment company through which Widenius seeks to invest in disruptive technology start-ups and help them to success.
Protection when searching and shopping on the Internet
Web of Trust offers Internet users preventive protection against Internet scams, identity theft, spyware, spam and unreliable online shops. The WOT security add-on provides safety ratings to search results when using Google, Yahoo!, Wikipedia, Digg and other popular sites, helping the users to protect their computers and personal information. Website rating information is continuously updated by the user community and from numerous trusted sources, such as listings of malware and phishing sites. The free Internet security add-on works with Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers and can be downloaded at www.mywot.com.
Supporting Facts of WOT
· WOT has been downloaded by 3 million users
· Information on 21 million websites
· 1 in every 20 websites is harmful
· WOT users can contribute by rating and commenting on websites
· WOT also receives information from a large number of trusted sources, such as PhishTank, hpHosts, DNS-BH Malware Domain list and Artists Against 419.
Resources
· WOT videos: www.youtube-nocookie.com/watch?v=2BuhjlOBzu8
· Screen prints, logos, and photos: http://flickr.com/photos/mywot/sets/
More information:
– Esa Suurio, CEO, phone: +358 40 716 9301
Address: Against Intuition, Inc. Italahdenkatu 27 A, 00210 Helsinki, Finland
– Monty Widenius, phone: +358-400-603271,
monty (at) openoceancapital.com
www.openoceancapital.com