Open Information Security Foundation
OISF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that maintains Suricata, a free open-source network threat detection engine for IDS, IPS, and NSM. It funds itself via Platinum ($200K) and Gold ($95K) consortium memberships from security vendors and agencies, and serves the global open-source security community through SuriCon and training.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2007
- HeadquartersBoston, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Open Information Security Foundation does
The Open Information Security Foundation (OISF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2007 and headquartered in Lafayette, Indiana. It exists to sustain open-source security technologies, principally Suricata, a mature open-source network threat detection engine that performs real-time intrusion detection (IDS), inline intrusion prevention (IPS), network security monitoring (NSM), and offline pcap processing. Suricata is developed by a small core team of maintainers (Victor Julien, Jason Ish, Eric Leblond, Peter Manev) together with a global community of volunteer contributors, and is distributed freely via suricata.io.
OISF's primary commercial activity is a tiered consortium membership program. Platinum members donate $200,000 annually and Gold members donate $95,000 annually, in exchange for a non-GPL license to Suricata, priority access to training and the SuriCon annual user conference, and prominent marketing placement. The consortium includes AWS and Proofpoint at Platinum, and ANSSI, Arista, Aviatrix, Corelight, Cylera, ENEA, Juniper Networks, NEOX Networks, RedPiranha, and Verizon at Gold, with Stamus Networks as a Sustainer. Additional revenue comes from organizational and individual donations, SuriCon attendance, and paid developer and user training programs. In May 2024 the Board began re-evaluating membership tiers and benefits, signaling an intent to broaden the funder base.
OISF serves a horizontal, dual audience: world-class security organizations that embed Suricata into cloud, network, and NDR products, and the broader open-source security community of developers, researchers, and enterprise security teams. The foundation does not sell the Suricata engine commercially; instead it provides the governance, IP framework, training, and convening (via SuriCon) that allow the project to remain vendor-neutral and community-driven. The foundation has 1–10 employees, no venture funding, and no subsidiaries.
Open Information Security Foundation firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Open Information Security Foundation
- Legal name
- Open Information Security Foundation
- Website
- https://oisf.net
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2007
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- OISF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that maintains Suricata, a free open-source network threat detection engine for IDS, IPS, and NSM. It funds itself via Platinum ($200K) and Gold ($95K) consortium memberships from security vendors and agencies, and serves the global open-source security community through SuriCon and training.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Open Information Security Foundation industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Network Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software
- NAICS
- Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Network Security Managed Services (Firewall/IDS/IPS/SASE) (BPAEADAG)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Network Security Services (Firewall/VPN/ZTNA/SASE Integration) (BPAEAEAG)
Keywords
Where Open Information Security Foundation is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Boston
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Open Information Security Foundation business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Consortium Membership Fees: OISF is funded by donations from world-class security organizations through its Platinum ($200,000 annually) and Gold ($95,000 annually) consortium membership tiers. Members receive non-GPL licenses, training access, SuriCon invitations, and marketing visibility in exchange for their contributions.
- Donations and Grants: As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, OISF accepts donations from organizations and individuals committed to open source security technologies and communities.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Platinum membership at $200,000 annual donation |
| Subscription | Annual | Gold membership at $95,000 annual donation |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels5 records
Open Information Security Foundation product offering
Product offeringCore offering
OISF develops, sustains, and distributes Suricata, a free and open source network threat detection engine that performs real-time intrusion detection (IDS), inline intrusion prevention (IPS), network security monitoring (NSM), and offline packet capture (pcap) processing. The foundation funds and coordinates this work through a consortium membership model that grants non-GPL licensing and community engagement benefits to contributing security organizations.
Product overview
OISF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that builds community and supports open source security technologies. Its primary product is Suricata, a world-class network threat detection engine capable of real-time intrusion detection (IDS), inline intrusion prevention (IPS), network security monitoring (NSM), and offline packet capture (pcap) processing. OISF also hosts SuriCon, the annual user conference. The organization operates on membership tiers (Platinum at $200,000/year and Gold at $95,000/year) providing non-GPL licenses and other benefits, and is funded by consortium member donations from security organizations worldwide.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Suricata: A free and open source network threat detection engine capable of real time intrusion detection (IDS), inline intrusion prevention (IPS), network security monitoring (NSM) and offline packet capture (pcap) processing.
- SuriCon
- Emerging Threats
Products and services
- Suricata Free and open source, mature, fast, and robust network threat detection engine capable of real-time intrusion detection (IDS), inline intrusion prevention (IPS), network security monitoring (NSM), and offline packet capture (pcap) processing, designed for security organizations, cloud providers, network security vendors, and the open source security community.
Companies that use Open Information Security Foundation
Customer profileSegments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Open Information Security Foundation technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability2 records
Feature1 record
Open Information Security Foundation partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
13 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.
- AWS (Amazon Web Services)flagshipAWS is a Platinum consortium member of OISF, providing funding and support for Suricata's ongoing development. As a Platinum member, AWS receives a non-GPL license, priority event invitations, prominent logo placement, and featured press release opportunities.
- ProofpointflagshipProofpoint is a Platinum consortium member of OISF. Proofpoint has been associated with OISF through Emerging Threats (now Proofpoint), and provides funding and support for the Suricata project.
- AviatrixcoreAviatrix joined OISF as a Gold consortium member in 2026, committing engineering resources, detection rules, and multicloud reference architectures to advance Suricata for cloud-native environments. Aviatrix embeds Suricata's open-source threat detection engine as the core of its Intrusion Prevention System across AWS, Azure, and GCP environments, contributing detection rule sets covering IAM lateral movement, Kubernetes service token theft, and supply chain attack patterns.
- ANSSIcoreANSSI (Agence Nationale de la Sécurité des Systèmes d'Information) is France's national cybersecurity agency and a Gold consortium member supporting OISF's mission to advance open source security technologies.
- AristacoreArista is a Gold consortium member of OISF, contributing to the funding and sustainability of Suricata's development as part of their commitment to network security innovation.
- CorelightcoreCorelight is a Gold consortium member of OISF, providing support for Suricata's open source security technology development and community.
- CyleracoreCylera is a Gold consortium member of OISF, contributing to the foundation's mission of supporting open source security technologies.
- ENEAcoreENEA is a Gold consortium member of OISF, supporting the foundation's work in sustaining open source security projects like Suricata.
- Juniper NetworkscoreJuniper Networks is a Gold consortium member of OISF, contributing funding and support for Suricata's ongoing development and the broader open source security community.
- NEOX NetworkscoreNEOX Networks is a Gold consortium member of OISF, supporting the foundation's mission to preserve and advance open source security technologies.
- RedPiranhacoreRedPiranha is a Gold consortium member of OISF, contributing to the sustainability and growth of Suricata and open source security communities.
- VerizoncoreVerizon is a Gold consortium member of OISF, providing support for the foundation's operations and Suricata's continued innovation in network security.
- Stamus NetworkscoreStamus Networks is a Sustainer consortium member of OISF. Stamus was founded by OISF team members Peter Manev (Lead QA/Trainer) and Eric Leblond (Board of Directors), and develops the Stamus Security Platform based on Suricata. The company leads integration of Suricata into their flagship network detection and response product.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Open Information Security Foundation competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Palo Alto Networks: Largest commercial next-gen firewall/IPS vendor; competes for the same enterprise security budget that drives OISF consortium member adoption decisions.
- Arista Networks: Networking vendor and OISF Gold consortium member whose DANZ Monitoring Fabric integrates with Suricata; a major embed/distribution partner whose own commercial trajectory influences consortium economics.
- Juniper Networks: Networking/security vendor and OISF Gold consortium member that embeds Suricata into its SRX and Mist security offerings; comparable as a strategic partner whose continued sponsorship materially affects OISF funding.
- Cisco (Snort): Owns Snort, the original open source IDS that Suricata was created to compete with; represents the legacy incumbent in the network IDS category and a direct technology competitor for consortium mindshare.
- Vectra AI: AI-driven NDR vendor using machine learning for attack detection; competes for the same network detection budget and represents a potential future technological direction (ML-led detection) that OISF would need to match via community contributions.
- ExtraHop: Commercial NDR vendor offering proprietary network threat detection at enterprise scale; competes with Suricata-based stacks for the same buyer use case (network-based threat detection and response).
Direct peers
- Stamus Networks: Commercial NDR vendor founded by OISF core developers (Peter Manev, Eric Leblond) whose Stamus Security Platform is built directly on Suricata; it is both a Sustainer consortium member and the closest commercial embodiment of OISF's technology.
- Security Onion Solutions: Vendor of the Security Onion Linux distribution, which bundles Suricata, Zeek, and other OSS security tools; directly comparable as an OSS-native distribution/monetization play around the same core detection engine.
- Corelight: Commercial NDR platform built on the open source Zeek (formerly Bro) network monitor; a Gold OISF consortium member and the closest structural analog to Stamus, competing for the same open-source-anchored enterprise NDR buyer.
Emerging players
- The Zeek Project: Open source network security monitor (formerly Bro) maintained by a community similar in structure to OISF; a direct technological alternative to Suricata for network analysis and a primary competitor for open source contributor mindshare.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Open Information Security Foundation social profiles
Digital presenceOpen Information Security Foundation financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Open Information Security Foundation leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles16 records
Open Information Security Foundation funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Open Information Security Foundation M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Open Information Security Foundation
What does Open Information Security Foundation do?
OISF develops, sustains, and distributes Suricata, a free and open source network threat detection engine that performs real-time intrusion detection (IDS), inline intrusion prevention (IPS), network security monitoring (NSM), and offline packet capture (pcap) processing. The foundation funds and coordinates this work through a consortium membership model that grants non-GPL licensing and community engagement benefits to contributing security organizations.
Is Open Information Security Foundation a public or private company?
Open Information Security Foundation is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Open Information Security Foundation founded?
Open Information Security Foundation was founded in 2007. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Open Information Security Foundation based?
Open Information Security Foundation is headquartered in Boston, United States, in the North America region.
How does Open Information Security Foundation make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Consortium Membership Fees are the primary driver. The others are donations and Grants.
Who are Open Information Security Foundation's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Palo Alto Networks, Arista Networks, Juniper Networks, Cisco (Snort), Vectra AI and ExtraHop. Direct peers are Stamus Networks, Security Onion Solutions and Corelight. The Zeek Project is listed as an emerging player.
Does Open Information Security Foundation have an API?
No public API is recorded for Open Information Security Foundation.
What industry is Open Information Security Foundation in?
Open Information Security Foundation's product category is Network Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAEADAG, Network Security Managed Services (Firewall/IDS/IPS/SASE), with a secondary code of BPAEAEAG, Network Security Services (Firewall/VPN/ZTNA/SASE Integration). Its NAICS code is 54151 and its SIC code is 7372.