1. The economics of simplicity (or the corollary: bloat is bad)…
   • We’re a simple, platform-first organization because we don’t believe in bloat. We believe in making things as simple as they can be – even to the point of exclusion.
     
     Everything about what we do is minimalistic by design (well, except for how wordy we are; we're working on it) - from our platform design / aesthetic to our pricing to our org structure to how we engage with engagements and programs on the platform.
     
     
2. Real transparency.
   • Nobody that we’re aware of has a policy of being opaque – it would seem that most organizations claim to operate from a place of transparency. But our experience is that this very often said, and very rarely lived. We probably won’t be perfect on this all the time, but we want to commit early on to be as transparent as possible (even to a fault) internally and externally.
     
     Is it a bad idea to be perfectly transparent with our pricing models when nobody else in the industry does so? It's hard to say - but we know we prefer transparency, so that's what we're going to provide. We won’t over-charge big (or any) organizations just because we can. Our model is our model. We may offer lower rates to organizations who are in need (say charities, etc) – but again, we’re transparent about our willingness to do.
     
     
3. Honesty.
   • We don’t like liars, and we believe most people don’t either. So, it’s a core principle here that we won’t lie – not even to win the biggest deal in company history. Trust is essential and earned. And while it’s idealist to its core, this is something that’s essential to who we are and what we’re trying to do.
     
     
4. For The People.
   • In an age of raging corporatism, we’d like to at least try to be an antidote to that. We’re not out here trying to build a billion dollar company – we’re out here trying to do the most good possible, while also incorporating the principles of capitalism to drive the market forward.
     
     This applies not only to the market, but also to our employees. We don’t want to be another organization with out of touch executives and leadership – we want to treat our people as people and push the envelope around helping those we work with. Who knows if they'll all be good or bad ideas, but someone has to try, and who better than us.
     
     In this same vein, we say it elsewhere, but our view is that we don’t have competition. This is for the betterment of the internet, and not just for personal / corporate gain. If organizations are becoming more secure by using other suppliers in the space(s) where we operate, then we have no quarrel with how they do what they do. If another supplier is a better fit, we'll recommend them over pushing our services that may not be a good fit. The goal is not to close deals, it's to make these invaluable tools accessible, affordable, and available to everyone. Our goal is simply to make this accessible and affordable to everyone – whether someone uses DarkHorse or an alternative, the end result is that the internet is a little bit safer – and that’s what we’re about.
     
     
5. For The People pt. II
   • In addition to being a platform designed to make the internet safer, DarkHorse is also a platform that is committed to make being a hacker safer and more productive.
     
     What does that mean?
     
     For starters, we are the only platform to require safe harbor on all bug bounties and VDPs. This is the way it should be, and there’s no reason for anyone to not have safe harbor in this day and age.
     
     Second, we’re the only platform to have auto-awarding – both when it comes to points or payouts. If too much time has passed without the report getting proper attention, it will gradually get rewarded 50%, then 75%, and finally 100% of the presumed reward amount. It is imperative that programs run on platforms such as DarkHorse give testers the full attention that they deserve, since the testers are the ones putting in their precious time and effort to report a given finding.
     
     Third, we charge a LOT less than other vendors in the space. This is most certainly a strong benefit for the organizations who benefit from the cost efficiency we provide, but ideally that also translates into more dollars to testers in the form of rewards.
     
     Fourth, we have an industry-leading disclosure policy that matches the current state of the industry, and intelligently allows for disclosure where it makes sense, and simultaneously protects organizations where it makes sense as well.
     
     Fifth, we are the only platform to incorporate methodologies into all program types – including bug bounties. Our unique approach to this as well as how we render the program summary also makes it easy for one to see their existing reports, and also use the methodology to track their progress across the targets, enabling individuals to be more effective in their testing.
     
     We could go on, but we’ll stop at five for now.
     

These principles will be expanded and updated as time goes on, and we hope that sharing these guiding beliefs will help you gain a better understanding of who we are, why we’re here, and what we’re about.