Open Source Technology Improvement Fund
OSTIF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2015 that facilitates free professional security audits for open source software projects, coordinating engagements between project maintainers, vetted security firms, and a diversified base of corporate, foundation, and government funders including CNCF, OpenSSF, Linux Foundation, Eclipse, EU-STF, DuckDuckGo, and Google.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersChicago, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Open Source Technology Improvement Fund does
OSTIF (Open Source Technology Improvement Fund, Inc.) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation founded in May 2015 and headquartered in Illinois that facilitates professional security audits for open source software projects. The organization does not develop proprietary technology; its core capability is coordination and project management — scoping audit engagements, matching open source projects with vetted security firms (Trail of Bits, QuarksLab, 7ASecurity, ADA Logics, X41 D-Sec, Shielder), managing the audit lifecycle, coordinating disclosure, and publishing transparent public audit reports. Since inception it has facilitated 160+ audits spanning cryptography (OpenSSL, Bitcoin Core), container orchestration (KEDA, Kubeflow), encryption (VeraCrypt, OpenVPN), HTTP libraries (Requests, urllib3), and other critical infrastructure, totaling 13,000+ hours of security review and 130+ severe bugs patched.
The organization's revenue model is nonprofit grant-funded rather than transactional: OSTIF provides free audit coordination services to open source projects and bears costs through a diversified funder base. Funding streams include recurring corporate sponsorships (DuckDuckGo for 5 consecutive years, Private Internet Access as Platinum Sponsor since 2017), foundation funding from the major open source governance bodies (CNCF, Linux Foundation, OpenSSF, Eclipse Foundation), government programs (EU Sovereign Tech Fund / Sovereign Tech Resilience Program, Alpha-Omega), and individual donations including via cryptocurrency. The organization operates managed audit programs — most notably the 4-year CNCF Managed Audit Program covering 33 projects with a 97% fix rate — alongside a Bug Bounty Program in partnership with HackerOne and the Internet Bug Bounty.
Open Source Technology Improvement Fund firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Open Source Technology Improvement Fund
- Legal name
- Open Source Technology Improvement Fund, Inc.
- Website
- https://ostif.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- OSTIF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2015 that facilitates free professional security audits for open source software projects, coordinating engagements between project maintainers, vetted security firms, and a diversified base of corporate, foundation, and government funders including CNCF, OpenSSF, Linux Foundation, Eclipse, EU-STF, DuckDuckGo, and Google.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Open Source Technology Improvement Fund industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Open Source Security Audit Services
- NAICS
- Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)
- SIC
- Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Security Audits & Compliance (ISO 27001, SOC 2, PCI DSS, HIPAA, SOX) (BPAKADAC)
Keywords
Where Open Source Technology Improvement Fund is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Chicago
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Open Source Technology Improvement Fund business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Corporate Sponsorships: OSTIF receives funding from corporations that benefit from open source security, including DuckDuckGo (5 consecutive years), Private Internet Access (Platinum Sponsor), and other privacy/security-focused companies. Sponsors provide financial support to fund security audits.
- Foundation Funding: Major open source foundations including CNCF, Linux Foundation, OpenSSF, Eclipse Foundation, and Sovereign Tech Agency fund OSTIF's audit programs. These organizations provide strategic funding to improve security of critical open source infrastructure.
- Individual Donations: OSTIF accepts donations from individuals who support open source security. They accept various payment methods including cryptocurrency (Monero, Bitcoin), traditional payment platforms, and have run Kickstarter campaigns for fundraising.
- Government/EU Funding: OSTIF receives funding from government entities including EU-STF (European Sovereign Tech Fund) and Sovereign Tech Resilience Program to support security audits of critical open source infrastructure.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Open Source Technology Improvement Fund product offering
Product offeringCore offering
OSTIF coordinates and facilitates third-party security audits for open source software projects by connecting project maintainers with vetted security firms, managing the audit engagement from scoping through disclosure, and publishing audit findings for ecosystem benefit. It runs foundation-funded Managed Audit Programs (notably for CNCF) and a coordinated Bug Bounty Program that rewards researchers for vulnerabilities in supported projects. OSTIF's services are provided free of charge to open source projects and are funded by corporate sponsorships, foundation grants, government programs, and individual donations.
Product overview
OSTIF (Open Source Technology Improvement Fund) is a non-profit organization that secures open source software by facilitating security audits. Rather than a software product company, OSTIF operates audit facilitation programs and partnerships—primarily the Security Audit Facilitation Services and the CNCF Managed Audit Program—that connect open source projects with world-class security firms (including Trail of Bits, QuarksLab, 7ASecurity, ADA Logics, X41 D-Sec, and Shielder). OSTIF has facilitated over 100 partner projects, coordinated 13,000+ hours of security review, and helped patch 130+ severe bugs. The organization also operates a Bug Bounty Program and publishes comprehensive audit reports documenting findings for transparency.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Security Audit Facilitation Services Coordinates and facilitates third-party security audits for open source software projects by connecting projects with vetted security firms, managing audit engagements, and supporting the disclosure process. Services are provided free of charge to open source projects.
- CNCF Managed Audit Program Structured program run by OSTIF for the Cloud Native Computing Foundation to systematically audit CNCF-hosted projects. Over 4 years OSTIF audited 33 CNCF projects, reported 112 security findings in a single year, and maintained a 97% fix rate for findings.
- Bug Bounty Program OSTIF's program that rewards security researchers for finding vulnerabilities in supported open source projects, with maximum awards of $5,000 for critical flaws, operated in partnership with HackerOne and the Internet Bug Bounty.
- Security Audit Reports Published audit reports documenting findings from security reviews of open source projects, including severity classifications, remediation details, and recommendations, made publicly available for ecosystem benefit.
Quantifiable outcome
- 130+ severe bugs patched across 100+ projects
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Open Source Technology Improvement Fund
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Open Source Technology Improvement Fund technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Open Source Technology Improvement Fund partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and regular.
- Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF)coreOSTIF is an upgraded member of OpenSSF and works with the foundation's Securing Critical Projects working group to identify and audit critical open source infrastructure. OpenSSF provides funding and strategic direction for security initiatives. OSTIF participates in OpenSSF programs and the partnership was highlighted at Open Source SecurityCon North America 2025 where OSTIF received recognition alongside new members Target Corporation and Thread AI.
- Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF)coreOSTIF has run a Managed Audit Program for CNCF for 4 years, auditing 33 projects in that time. CNCF sponsors security audits of their hosted projects including KEDA, Kubeflow, Flux, NATS, Linkerd, and others. The partnership aims to reinforce security health of cloud native open source for billions of end users.
- Eclipse FoundationcoreEclipse Foundation collaborates with OSTIF on security audits for their hosted projects. OSTIF provided three Eclipse projects with security oversight including Eclipse Jetty, Eclipse JKube, and others, with funding from the Foundation and Alpha-Omega.
- Linux FoundationcoreLinux Foundation (including Core Infrastructure Initiative) has partnered with OSTIF on multiple security reviews including Linux Kernel release signing policies, vulnerability reporting processes, and COVID exposure notification apps. Linux Foundation Public Health Initiative sponsored audits of COVID Shield and COVID Green.
- Trail of BitscoreTrail of Bits is a primary security audit partner for OSTIF. They've worked together on 12+ security engagements including audits of KEDA, curl, Mosquitto, Flux, wasmCloud, Jetty, JKube, DragonFly, CloudEvents, and Linux Kernel. Trail of Bits provides the security expertise while OSTIF coordinates and funds the engagements.
- QuarksLabcoreQuarksLab is a long-standing security audit partner with OSTIF, conducting audits of OpenSSL 1.1.1, OpenVPN, VeraCrypt, Monero Bulletproofs, RandomX, PHP, Bitcoin Core, KubeVirt, and others. Initial contact made in July 2015 for auditing services.
- ADA LogicscoreADA Logics (Adam and David Korczynski) is a key security audit partner for OSTIF, particularly for AI/ML ecosystem projects. Conducted the security health check of 25 popular open source AI/LLM projects in partnership with Alpha-Omega, as well as audits of Kubeflow, Kea, OpenSSF Scorecard, PowSyBl, and Log4CXX/Log4Net.
- 7ASecuritycore7ASecurity (led by Abraham Aranguren) conducts security audits for OSTIF projects. Performed audits of KEDA, zlib, Stork, Requests/CacheControl/urllib3, conda-forge, Linkerd, Logback, Ruby on Rails, PHP, and others. Team of 6+ security auditors specialized in open source security.
- X41 D-SeccoreX41 D-Sec discovered and coordinated disclosure of the BADHOST vulnerability (CVE-2026-48710) in Starlette framework through OSTIF's coordinated disclosure program. Also conducted audits of Unbound DNS, RSTUF, Ruby on Rails, and RandomX. Discovered critical vulnerabilities with downstream impact across LLM gateways and MCP servers.
- ShielderregularShielder conducted the Symfony YAML security audit for OSTIF, focusing on YAML parsing vulnerabilities and passing untrusted content. Also performed audits of Inspektor Gadget, OpenEXR, MaterialX, and conda-forge.
- HackerOneregularOSTIF partnered with HackerOne and the Internet Bug Bounty to list supported projects on the HackerOne platform for coordinated bug bounty programs. This partnership enables security researchers to submit vulnerabilities through a structured program with no overhead costs for OSTIF projects.
- Internet Bug BountyregularInternet Bug Bounty partners with OSTIF and HackerOne to provide bug bounty rewards for security vulnerabilities found in open source projects. OSTIF projects including OpenVPN and VeraCrypt participate in this program with maximum awards of $5,000 for critical flaws.
- Brink/Chaincode LabsregularBrink and Chaincode Labs collaborated with OSTIF and QuarksLab on the Bitcoin Core security audit, providing additional expertise and funding for the review of the reference Bitcoin implementation.
Scale indicators13 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Open Source Technology Improvement Fund competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- FOSSA: FOSSA is a commercial software composition analysis and license compliance platform focused on open source dependencies. It addresses open source security and compliance at scale for enterprises, an adjacent but commercially-oriented counterpart to OSTIF's audit facilitation mission.
- HackerOne: HackerOne is the largest bug bounty platform serving both open source projects and commercial enterprises. It is a broader commercial incumbent that partners with OSTIF on bug bounty programs but operates at much larger scale with commercial customer focus.
- Tidelift: Tidelift is a commercial platform that helps enterprises manage and secure open source dependencies through paid maintainer support. It addresses similar open source security and sustainability concerns as OSTIF but via a commercial subscription model rather than nonprofit coordination.
Direct peers
- OpenSSF (Open Source Security Foundation): OpenSSF is a cross-industry foundation dedicated to improving the security of open source software. It directly overlaps with OSTIF's mission through its Alpha-Omega project, which also funds security audits of critical OSS infrastructure, making it the closest mission-aligned peer.
- Core Infrastructure Initiative: CII is a Linux Foundation initiative that funds security improvements to critical open source infrastructure (a predecessor to OSTIF's model). It shares the mission of funding third-party audits and security hardening for widely-used OSS projects.
- NLnet Foundation: NLnet Foundation is a Dutch nonprofit that funds open source projects and digital rights initiatives through grants. It shares OSTIF's nonprofit grantmaking model and mission to support critical open source infrastructure, including security-related projects.
- Alpha-Omega Project: Alpha-Omega is an OpenSSF-funded project that provides funding and support to improve the security of critical open source projects. It directly overlaps with OSTIF in funding OSS security audits and is an active funder of OSTIF's engagements.
- Sovereign Tech Agency: Sovereign Tech Agency operates the EU Sovereign Tech Fund to support open source infrastructure sustainability including security. It is a direct partner and funder of OSTIF while also conducting its own OSS security funding, making it a peer in government-backed OSS security grantmaking.
- Internet Bug Bounty: Internet Bug Bounty is a nonprofit initiative that rewards security researchers for finding vulnerabilities in critical open source software. It is a direct operational partner of OSTIF and OSTIF projects participate in its HackerOne-hosted bug bounty programs.
Emerging players
- Chainguard: Chainguard is a software supply chain security company focused on securing container images and open source dependencies. It addresses adjacent supply chain security concerns but with a commercial product model that competes for the same enterprise OSS security budget that indirectly supports OSTIF's mission.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks4 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Open Source Technology Improvement Fund social profiles
Digital presenceOpen Source Technology Improvement Fund financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Open Source Technology Improvement Fund leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Open Source Technology Improvement Fund funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Open Source Technology Improvement Fund 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 Source Technology Improvement Fund
What does Open Source Technology Improvement Fund do?
OSTIF coordinates and facilitates third-party security audits for open source software projects by connecting project maintainers with vetted security firms, managing the audit engagement from scoping through disclosure, and publishing audit findings for ecosystem benefit. It runs foundation-funded Managed Audit Programs (notably for CNCF) and a coordinated Bug Bounty Program that rewards researchers for vulnerabilities in supported projects. OSTIF's services are provided free of charge to open source projects and are funded by corporate sponsorships, foundation grants, government programs, and individual donations.
Is Open Source Technology Improvement Fund a public or private company?
Open Source Technology Improvement Fund is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Open Source Technology Improvement Fund founded?
Open Source Technology Improvement Fund was founded in 2015. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Open Source Technology Improvement Fund based?
Open Source Technology Improvement Fund is headquartered in Chicago, United States, in the North America region.
How does Open Source Technology Improvement Fund make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Corporate Sponsorships are the primary driver. The others are foundation Funding, individual Donations and government/EU Funding.
Who are Open Source Technology Improvement Fund's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are FOSSA, HackerOne and Tidelift. Direct peers are OpenSSF (Open Source Security Foundation), Core Infrastructure Initiative, NLnet Foundation, Alpha-Omega Project, Sovereign Tech Agency and Internet Bug Bounty. Chainguard is listed as an emerging player.
Does Open Source Technology Improvement Fund have an API?
No public API is recorded for Open Source Technology Improvement Fund.
What industry is Open Source Technology Improvement Fund in?
Open Source Technology Improvement Fund's product category is Open Source Security Audit Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAKADAC, Security Audits & Compliance (ISO 27001, SOC 2, PCI DSS, HIPAA, SOX). Its NAICS code is 81321 and its SIC code is 8700.