HUMAN Blog

Our Next Chapter: About Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Group, ClearSky Security, and NightDragon - The Growth Investment in White Ops

Written by Tamer Hassan | December 23, 2020

Almost 10 years ago, we set on a path to create the world’s most advanced human verification technology, designed to ensure there is a real human on the other side of the screen for any interaction on the internet. We were guided by the ideal of changing the economics of cybercrime, raising the cost of fraud as the primary strategy to eliminate the problem. 

Today we are widely recognized by the world’s largest internet platforms, processing more than 10 trillion interactions per week with more than 300 algorithms to verify there is a real human on the other end of an interaction. Our use cases range from advertising and marketing effectiveness to application security.

That’s why I’m thrilled to continue our upward trajectory and new chapter with the growth investment in White Ops by Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division, in partnership with ClearSky Security and NightDragon. The objectives we had when we founded the company in the back of a sci-fi bookstore have become even more pertinent today, as we work to protect many of the largest enterprises and internet platforms from digital fraud and abuse. This investment will give us resources to accelerate our growth, stay ahead of our adversaries, and move faster in our fight to protect the integrity of the internet. 

Moving forward, we will advance our fraud-spotting capabilities with a platform designed to verify the “real and right human” across markets and industries. This creates a layer of collective protection, identifying and reducing fraud risks while reducing friction on real humans across our collective customer base. 

I always ask, if you could look like a million humans, what could you do? And the answer is always the same: a lot of bad things. We fight countless adversaries every day, but all of us fighting back individually doesn’t work. We can only win the game through collective protection. Collaboration at the pace of days and weeks is helpful, but doesn‘t get the job done. Collaboration needs to happen with deep technology partnerships that can act quickly, at the pace of seconds rather than days when facing sophisticated and well-funded attacks. In this next phase of the company, we will accelerate our mission to help collectively protect enterprises and partners across markets and verticals. We’re excited to get to work on this with Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division, ClearSky Security, and NightDragon. I recently spoke with Dave DeWalt, co-founder and Managing Director of NightDragon, about how we'll work together to fight digital fraud and abuse.

For all of this good to happen during such a tumultuous time for the world, I couldn’t be more grateful to have our community of Humans at White Ops who continue to rise to the occasion. 

The investment earlier this year from Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division and ClearSky Security fast-tracked our expansion into the UK market and accelerated the development of our solutions and products to come. We even hit a giant milestone: we now verify the humanity of more than 10 trillion interactions a week

When I left the Air Force to build technology after 15 years of service, people told me that I would never find the same type of team and mission. It’s a common feeling for those who leave the military for the private sector: to long for the camaraderie that comes from being part of a group of highly skilled people with a common and deep-seated mission. I feel exceptionally lucky to have found both at White Ops. 

Additionally, as a part of our next chapter, we'll continue our efforts to ensure that our company name reflects our core values, which are shared by our friends at Goldman Sachs, ClearSky, and NightDragon. Look for more news on our new company name in the first quarter of the new year.

We’re excited to welcome our new investors from Goldman Sachs, ClearSky Security, and NightDragon to our board of directors. Our team of humans only grows stronger, and we will continue the hard work of building a company of consequence dedicated to protecting the integrity of the internet.