Cisco expands partnership to accelerate OpenSSL Foundation innovation and security advancements

We are honored to share that Cisco Systems has signed on as a Premier Sponsor of the OpenSSL Foundation.Their three-year sponsorship will allow the Foundation to focus on long-term projects that require multi-year funding. As a nonprofit that relies on sponsorships, donations, and grants to meet our budgetary needs, we are deeply grateful for this meaningful contribution.

Cisco’s sponsorship will help fund a new full-time software engineer at the Foundation and also add the part-time support of an engineer seconded from Cisco. Adding engineers to the team has been our top priority since the OpenSSL project’s organizational reform of last year. With these new resources, we will be able to move forward more quickly with fundamental engineering work and ongoing development of a variety of features, such as QUIC related projects, additional PQC work, and DTLS1.3.

While this sponsorship represents Cisco’s largest-ever financial commitment to the OpenSSL Foundation, it is by no means their first contribution to the project. Barry Fussell, Principal Engineer at Cisco, serves on the OpenSSL Foundation’s Technical Advisory Committee, and Jeff Johnson, Leader Trustworthy Software, Foundational Security Technologies at Cisco, serves on the Business Advisory Committee of the OpenSSL Corporation, with whom the Foundation co-manages the OpenSSL project.

By supporting critical projects like OpenSSL, Cisco is empowering the global community to stand united against evolving threats and to build the trustworthy, secure IT infrastructure everyone depends on. Cisco’s commitment extends to harnessing and scaling open-source innovation so that security can keep pace with the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence and technology.

“OpenSSL plays a vital role in securing the internet and the countless systems that rely on it. At Cisco, we recognize that supporting essential open-source projects like OpenSSL amplifies efforts to build trustworthy and secure IT infrastructure for everyone. We are honored and excited to have the opportunity to contribute to such a critical project,” said Jonathan Felten, VP of Engineering, Foundational Security Technologies at Cisco.

Together with the open-source community, Cisco is committed to scaling security, addressing adversaries, and building a safer, more inclusive digital future for everyone. If you want to join Cisco as part of the OpenSSL Foundation’s growing community of supporters, join our Code Protectors corporate sponsorship program or reach out to us about designing a bespoke Premier sponsorship package. We welcome corporate contributions at all levels.

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