Non-Profit Computer Security Consultancy

We're an idealistic bunch of security researchers, networking/forensics geeks, and Capture The Flag winners that are passionate about making the world more secure. We believe in transparency and openness, and our goal is to secure the society that allows us to run a company in the first place.

Our Business Model

Radically Open Security prides itself on being the world's first not-for-profit computer security consultancy company.

We are prototyping an innovative new business model - using a Dutch "Fiscaal Fondswervende Instelling" (Fiscal Fundraising Institution) to provide a commercial front-end that sends 90% of our profits tax-free to a charitable foundation (Stichting NLnet) that has supported open-source, Internet research, and digital rights organizations for almost 20 years. Our low management/overhead costs mean we can afford to pay competitive wages to our computer security consultants. There are similar constructions in the world (B-corporations, Mozilla, etc..), but we tackle things from a slightly different angle.

Our idealism fuels our growth; it helps us to hire idealistic A-list security experts, and to find like-minded customers who want to use their security budget as a "vote" to support socially responsible entrepreneurship. We see ourselves as "hacking a new business model" for prototyping an ideal company - one that optimizes for benefit to the world (customers, employees, society) as opposed to profit motive (shareholders, investors, founders). Our hope is that, in a few years from now, we might inspire others to setup similar sustainable "not for profit businesses" in other industries. Call us dreamers, but we hope that we can help to move society forward in this way.

Timelex (www.timelex.eu) is a boutique law firm based in Brussels, specialised in information and technology law in the broadest sense, including privacy protection, data and information management, e-business, intellectual property and telecommunications. Its activities cover all legal issues encountered in the creation, management and exploitation of information and technology, in all of its diverse forms. Timelex as an independent firm was founded in 2007, and many of its lawyers started their career in international law firms and multinational companies. The team is internationally recognised, being both a Legal 500 Top Tier firm in Information Technology, and a Chambers Europe Recommended Firm for TMT - Information Technology, Intellectual Property, Data Protection and Entertainment. Timelex has a proven track record in every aspect of information and technology law, from an academic, business and policy perspective. At Timelex, all legal facets of the modern information society are our area of expertise, which we continuously cultivate by assisting policy makers, public and private organizations with all their legal problems in this area. The Timelex team provides support from a pragmatic perspective as lawyers at the bar of Brussels, and from a policy perspective as advisors to various governments, public administrations and legislative bodies in Belgium, at the European level, and internationally. The Timelex team is specifically known for its European policy studies in a variety of subjects, including data protection, electronic signatures, electronic identity management, e-business and e-government, in which they can rely on an extensive network of IT law experts covering all European countries. From a business perspective, Timelex frequently assists companies in establishing suitable policies and legal frameworks in their data management activities, including with regard to the cross-border transfer and processing of personal data, data security and liability management issues. Its clients include private companies and public sector bodies in the IT sector, financial services, e-health, marketing and e-commerce.