Wednesday 20 January 2010

OWASP for Charities: Haiti relief effort

There are days that I am really proud of being part of the OWASP community, today is one of those days :)

The email below was just sent to all subscribers of an OWASP mailing list or has an @owasp.org address (about 10,000)



OWASP Members and Supporters,

OWASP was founded, and is supported as a non-profit organization, by a group of dedicated volunteers who believe that all applications should be secure and trusted.  As our organization matures we have taken those beliefs broader, and have started setting up ways for our members to donate to the global community.  Among these initiatives are:
  • OWASP has an active Kiva lending team who have donated $9,125.00 to date.  http://www.kiva.org/community/viewTeam?team_id=522
  • OWASP in response to the need in Haiti has set up a secure and trusted way for those within the OWASP community to donate funds to help the people of Haiti. This allows our OWASP community to help another with a single global voice.  100% of the collected donations will be transferred directly to victims for disaster relief such as food and medical requirements.  Please visit www.owasp.org and click the link for G33k-4-HAITI.  In a time of crisis, OWASP can help those who are in great need. The OWASP community can help organize, support , and promote efforts outside of application security.
OWASP is well aware there is a movement for phishers to utilize this tragedy to get unsuspecting people to donate to a “cause” without having a legitimate business back end and ultimately funneling all the money directly into their own pockets.  The OWASP community is uniquely qualified to help protect from this type of attack and educate about attacks as well.

As the world becomes more dependent on technology and particularly web applications, there are many who need protection who simply have no options to protect themselves.  These include small companies, individuals, charities, and others.  The OWASP community can help by connecting qualified, trusted resources willing to volunteer their time to those organizations which qualify. OWASP is setting up an outreach program, which will be under the name project name of OWASP for Charities.

We hope you will support OWASPs efforts to make a difference  in any of the above ways. We are also open to suggestions in regards to where you feel the OWASP Community can be of service.

Regards,


Your OWASP Board


Kate Hartmann
OWASP Operations Director
9175 Guilford Road
Suite 300
Columbia, MD  21046