Hack for Good

HackerOne

Design Strategy Branding Web

Communicating the value of hacker-powered preemptive security to two very different audiences: hackers and enterprise.

PROBLEM

Buck the knee-jerk impulse to label hackers as dangerous; appeal to enterprise and hackers in a genuine and compelling way. 

APPROACH

Position h1 as trustworthy, leading edge, and the industry’s first-choice partner that will supplement your existing digital security team.

SOLUTION

Communicate the value of h1’s ethical hacker collective via a distinct brand voice and value proposition, while educating and driving conversion.

When I began working with them, HackerOne was a bold new startup, leveraging the collective talents of a worldwide network of ethical hackers. 

PART 1

Today they are the global leader in human-powered security.

Over the course of three years, I guided a team that designed all of the web, marketing, social and event experiences for h1. They’ve grown to working with major enterprise clients such as Goldman Sachs, PayPal, and Microsoft.

Opening the hoodie

Through a balanced approach of strategy, branding, social media and communications, my team and I worked closely with H1 Marketing to build HackerOne’s global profile among hackers and enterprise clients. A unified brand voice that could speak to both audiences was critical in bridging the dichotomy.

The key was identifying and appealing to the parallels and symbiosis in each group (problem-solving, technological advancement , seeking out vulnerabilities) and letting the dialogue happen in a landscape of common goals and benefits to each party.

PART 2

Creating the first hacker-powered security conference

We created the identity and marketing campaign for h1’s live security conference, Security@. Thousands of industry professionals, CTOs, and C Suite have attended the conference and it continues to grow in scale and popularity each year.

PART 3

Communicating h1’s unique value to enterprise clients

Keeping their clients’ (and their customers) security safe is what HackerOne is all about. But in a world where the word “hacker” can instantly trigger a negative connotation, how do you bridge that gap for a CEO? Positioning HackerOne as the digital security paragon that can identify problems your DevOps team may have missed is key; so is showing the real life humans (and their accomplishments) that comprise HackerOne.

The Hacker-Powered Security Report

Each year, h1 informs and educates their clientele by sharing positive case studies, industry trends, and showcasing the power of leveraging ethical hackers for preemptive security.

With security risks on the rise, this year’s report used the color yellow as a symbolic warning to maintain awareness and take action to identify enterprise system vulnerabilities.

Showing, not telling

We used clear and concise charts, graphs, and pull quotes to convey a lot of information as quickly as possible.

Toward a safer internet

Over the course of a successful partnership with h1, we were able to effectively grow their marketshare and today the company, valued at 829 million dollars, is the leading vulnerability management and bug bounty platform.