Ventures & institutions
A through-line from internet security to AI research: building the thing, not only studying it.
SafeWeb
Jon co-founded SafeWeb in 2000 with Stephen Hsu and James Hormuzdiar and later served as CEO. SafeWeb ran one of the largest web-anonymization services of its era and built Triangle Boy, a proxy system used to reach censored sites. It received the first security investment from In-Q-Tel, a nonprofit strategic investment firm affiliated with the CIA, and was acquired by Symantec in 2003 for $26 million. After the acquisition Jon was director of development for Symantec's clientless VPN appliance line.
What the sources show
The historical record is strongest when it includes both sides of the SafeWeb story: independent coverage of anti-censorship use, In-Q-Tel support, and the Symantec acquisition, alongside the documented criticism of the consumer anonymizer. In 2002, Wired, Computerworld, and a USENIX Security paper described JavaScript- and cookie-based vulnerabilities that could deanonymize users, while later trade coverage tracked SafeWeb's shift toward enterprise SSL VPN products and Symantec's acquisition.
- The Wall Street Journal covered In-Q-Tel's SafeWeb licensing and investment agreement.
- The New York Times reported on SafeWeb proxy technology in the context of Chinese internet censorship and Voice of America access.
- RAND analyzed SafeWeb and Triangle Boy in its report on Chinese dissident internet use.
- Wired and USENIX Security documented anonymizer vulnerabilities; Wired's follow-up covered SafeWeb's response.
- Le Monde and CRN add international and trade-press context to the In-Q-Tel and acquisition record.
- Network World and The Register covered Symantec's purchase of SafeWeb as an SSL VPN maker.
SafeWeb to NIST
The through-line is not that web anonymizers and frontier AI systems are the same problem. It is a builder's habit of testing public claims against adversarial use, failure modes, and institutional consequences.
- 2000 — SafeWeb begins with privacy, anti-censorship access, and web-anonymization infrastructure.
- 2001-2002 — the public record includes both In-Q-Tel and anti-censorship coverage and independent vulnerability research.
- 2003 — Symantec acquires SafeWeb and folds the work into clientless SSL VPN products.
- 2024-2026 — at NIST CAISI, Jon works on LLM evaluation, red-teaming, and ethical auditing: again asking how powerful systems behave under pressure.
Patents — early VPN appliances
The SafeWeb work produced two US patents on what were among the first SSL / clientless VPN appliances:
- US 7,730,528 — “Intelligent secure data manipulation apparatus and method” (filed 2001; issued 2010). Originally assigned to SafeWeb, Inc., then to Symantec following the 2003 acquisition.
- US 8,065,520 — “Method and apparatus for encrypted communications to a secure server” (continuation of a May 2000 application; issued 2011). Assigned to Symantec.
The Human-Centered AI Lab
Jon co-founded the nonprofit Human-Centered AI Lab, an umbrella that lets distributed teams of researchers and domain experts secure funding and collaborate on AI across institutional and disciplinary boundaries — filling gaps traditional academic structures leave open. humancenteredailab.org →
What was SafeWeb?
An internet privacy company Jon co-founded in 2000 and later led as CEO. It received the first security investment from In-Q-Tel, a nonprofit strategic investment firm affiliated with the CIA, and was acquired by Symantec in 2003 for $26 million.
What patents does he hold?
Two US patents, 7,730,528 and 8,065,520, on what were among the first SSL/clientless VPN appliances, arising from the SafeWeb work.
What is the Human-Centered AI Lab?
A nonprofit Jon co-founded that lets distributed teams of researchers and domain experts collaborate on AI across institutional and disciplinary boundaries.