Melih Abdulhayoglu, CEO and founder of cybersecurity firm Comodo Group, is a Turkish-American inventor, innovator, entrepreneur and internet security advocate and expert.
Since founding Comodo Group in 1998, Melih has grown the Comodo companies into a worldwide presence, all while remaining committed to his mission of making the internet a safer place for everyone by providing free security products for consumers and enterprises alike, in accordance with his motto, “Security is a right. Not a privilege.”
Keeping in line with his central mission, Melih actively advocates for elevated standards across the security industry. In 2005, Melih founded the Certification Authority Browser Forum (CA/B Forum), a voluntary consortium of Certificate Authorities, internet browser developers, and operating system vendors, which “advances industry best practices to improve the ways that certificates are used to the benefit of Internet users and the security of their communications.” In 2009, Melih initiated the Common Computing Security Standards Forum (CCSS), an organization of vendors of security software, operating systems, and browsers, working to mitigate the risk of malware and protect consumers worldwide.
In 2008, Melih Abdulhayoglu’s efforts to promote Internet security earned him the Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year® award in Information Technology Software for New Jersey. In 2011 Melih was named Entrepreneur of the Year by the Global Excellence Awards. In 2016 he was awarded the Mustafa V. Koç Business Leadership Award. He is a frequent speaker on Internet security issues and has appeared as an expert on various media outlets, including Fox TV and USA Today.