Our Story
From the start, our company has helped businesses understand and reduce their digital risks.
In 2002, TrustedSite founder Ben Tyler developed ScanAlert, one of the first commercial website and web application vulnerability scanners. ScanAlert gave businesses the ability to continuously test the security of their applications by mimicking the methods of an attacker. Sites with few issues earned the ability to display the HackerSafe trustmark, helping to grow trust among visitors and increase conversions.
In 2008, McAfee, under the leadership of TrustedSite founder Tim Dowling, acquired the company and rebranded it as the McAfee SECURE service, and it quickly became one of the most familiar and ubiquitous symbols of security and trust on the internet.
In 2013, Tim and Ben, along with other members of McAfee leadership, spun the operation out to form PathDefender, which was shortly thereafter rebranded as TrustedSite, to focus fully on the service’s success.
Over time, our security services also evolved with the help of Nick Merritt, who had worked alongside Tim and Ben at McAfee and HackerSafe. Because of his unique background as a developer, penetration tester, and security engineer at companies like Dell, Apple, and Intel, Nick recognized a need for TrustedSite to go beyond vulnerability and application scanning and help businesses defend a rapidly growing number of internet-connected assets in a new way. This led to the launch of the new TrustedSite Security platform, a complete attack surface management solution that enables businesses to see everything on their perimeter and get alerted when new risks or anomalies arise.
In 2021, the McAfee SECURE brand was retired and merged into the TrustedSite Certification service. The team remains dedicated to continually improving TrustedSite’s services with the help of a diverse team of 30 hard-working individuals. TrustedSite is proud to have helped so many businesses, and their customers, stay protected over our 20 year history, and looks forward to doing so for many years to come.
In 2022, the TrustedSite Security services were rebranded as Halo Security, while the internationally recognized TrustedSite brand remains for our certification and marketing solutions. Sadly, CEO and founder, Tim Dowling, passed away shortly thereafter. Lisa Dowling and Todd Gebhart stepped in to manage operations.
TrustedSite remains dedicated to honoring Tim's professional legacy and continually improving the TrustedSite and Halo Security services with the help of a diverse team of over 30 hard-working individuals. TrustedSite is proud to have helped so many businesses, and their customers, stay protected over our 20 year history, and looks forward to doing so for many years to come.