# Vinnie Liu

> Vinnie Liu is the co-founder and CEO of Bishop Fox, the largest private professional services firm focused on offensive security testing. Starting his career as an NSA analyst at age 17, Liu co-founded Bishop Fox in 2005 with Francis Brown, bootstrapping it for 13 years out of an Arizona living room before raising $175M in venture funding. Today, Bishop Fox serves 26% of Fortune 100 companies and 8 of the 10 largest global tech firms, combining elite human testers with its proprietary Cosmos platform for continuous attack surface management and AI-augmented penetration testing.

- **Role:** CEO and Co-Founder at Bishop Fox
- **Organizations:** Bishop Fox, AppOmni (Advisory Board), Elevate Security (Advisory Board), Mod N Labs (Advisory Board), University of Advancing Technology (Advisory Board), Practising Law Institute (Returning Faculty), Forgepoint Capital (Advisory Council)
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor's Degree, University of Pennsylvania
- **Known for:** Co-founded and grew Bishop Fox into the largest private offensive security professional services firm, Bootstrapped Bishop Fox for 13 years to ~$20M revenue before taking VC funding, Raised $175M total in venture funding ($25M Series A, $75M+$46M extended Series B)

## Career timeline

- **~1997** — Joined the NSA at age 17 through a recruitment program targeting high school graduates interested in cryptology and computer science, working full-time while attending college
- **2001** — Graduated from the University of Pennsylvania (Pi Kappa Alpha, Beta Pi Chapter, class of 2001)
- **~2001-2003** — Security consultant at Ernst & Young Advanced Security Centers
- **~2003-2005** — Led the Attack & Penetration team for the Global Security unit at Honeywell International
- **2005** — Co-founded Bishop Fox with Francis Brown in Q3 2005 as a side venture while at Honeywell; transitioned to full-time in February 2006
- **2005-2019** — Bootstrapped Bishop Fox for 13 years, growing to ~$20M revenue and 25% Fortune 100 client base without outside investment
- **2019** — Raised $25M Series A from Forgepoint Capital after 13 years of self-funded operations
- **2020** — Launched Cosmos, Bishop Fox's continuous offensive security and attack surface management platform
- **2021** — Tripled ARR and achieved record customer growth despite pandemic challenges
- **2022** — Raised $75M Series B led by Carrick Capital Partners (July), then extended to $129M total with WestCap (November)
- **2024** — Cosmos named GigaOm Radar Report leader for third consecutive year; ~60% ARR growth; 200%+ partner booking increases
- **2026** — Launched Cosmos AI, combining elite penetration testing teams with proprietary AI engine for AI-augmented pen testing

## Achievements

- Co-founded and grew Bishop Fox into the largest private offensive security professional services firm
- Bootstrapped Bishop Fox for 13 years to ~$20M revenue before taking VC funding
- Raised $175M total in venture funding ($25M Series A, $75M+$46M extended Series B)
- Grew Bishop Fox to serve 26% of Fortune 100 and 8 of 10 largest global tech companies
- Co-authored seven cybersecurity books including Hacking Exposed Wireless and Hacking Exposed Web Applications
- Named Cybersecurity Professional of the Year - Cybersecurity Excellence Awards (2020)
- Recognized as Top 25 Cybersecurity IT Executive of 2020
- Presented at Black Hat, DEF CON, and Microsoft BlueHat conferences
- Built Cosmos platform to GigaOm Radar leadership position for 3 consecutive years
- Contributing columnist for Dark Reading
- Bishop Fox received Top Companies to Work For in Arizona for 6 consecutive years (2014-2019)
- Completed 20,000+ security projects in six years
- Achieved 97% customer retention rate and NPS score of 86
- Developed the largest publicly known third-party ecosystem testing initiative globally (1,000+ partners)

## Latest updates

- **2026-02** — Launched Cosmos AI, combining Bishop Fox's elite penetration testing teams with a proprietary AI engine for AI-augmented application penetration testing
- **2024-12** — Bishop Fox ended 2024 with ~60% ARR growth and 200%+ partner booking increases; Cosmos achieved 3rd consecutive GigaOm Radar leadership position
- **2024-02** — Bishop Fox Cosmos Solidifies 3rd Consecutive Strong Leadership Position in GigaOm Attack Surface Management Radar with new Fast Mover classification

## Links

- Website: https://bishopfox.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/vinnieliu
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/vinnieliu
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/BishopFoxConsulting/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/vinnie-liu
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-14