Tide is transformative and true-zero-trust technology, enabling platform developers to lock their systems and grant access with keys no one will ever hold. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Tide co-founder Yuval Hertzog to learn more about the organization.
Yuval Hertzog’s Background
What is Yuval Hertzog’s background? Hertzog said:
“I am a technologist entrepreneur passionate about bringing transformative technologies to market. At Tide, I focus on mass equitable cyber-protection through innovative cryptographic solutions. Over seven years, I’ve researched and validated this concept in academic and professional circles. Before Tide, I founded and sold telecom carriers in the US, Australia, and South Africa, helping mainstream VoIP. Earlier, at VocalTec, I contributed to inventing and commercializing VoIP in the 1990s. My career began as an officer in a leading cyber-intelligence military unit, pioneering secure communication technologies. From childhood, I’ve pursued innovation, starting as a “hacker” and building my first software business as a teenager.”
Formation Of Tide
How did the idea for Tide come together? Hertzog shared:
“The idea for Tide first came together in 2015. Back then, we offered an IoT marketing service that collected vast amounts of data from smart devices, such as smartwatches, alongside voluntarily shared consumer information. Even before data protection regulations became prominent, we identified the significant liability that a potential data breach could pose—not just for our own company but also for our clients’ reputations, including major brands like Kellogg’s.”
“This realization inspired a groundbreaking shift: putting consumers in the driver’s seat of their own data. Our team developed a revolutionary mechanism that handed the ‘key’ to consumers, allowing them to decide who could access their data and under what conditions. This approach transformed the dynamics of data sharing. Consumers were no longer passive participants but willing partners. Trust surged, and the quality of data improved dramatically. Gone were the fake birthdates and throwaway emails; consumers shared real and valuable information because they felt secure and in control.”
“A turning point came when Kellogg’s sought to license this technology, recognizing the platform’s potential to foster trust and loyalty among their customers. This moment marked the genesis of Tide: a new paradigm dedicated to digital empowerment, transparency, and trust.”
Evolution Of Tide’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Hertzog noted:
“Tide’s technology has evolved dramatically since its inception, transforming through several key stages. It began with a simple yet powerful concept: building trust around data by giving individuals complete control over their information through a consumer trust management solution. This put the power of data access firmly in consumers’ hands.”
“Recognizing the importance of usability, we developed a decentralized key management solution and consent management system, streamlining how consumers could grant access to their data, and removed the complexities of key management that even experienced technologists struggle with. This advancement led to the creation of a personal data economy, where consumers could monetize their data sharing through rewards – transforming data from a privacy concern into a personal asset.”
“Our technology continued advancing with the development of a secure key management system that eliminated the need for physical key transfers. This expanded Tide’s capabilities beyond personal data to protect all types of digital information. The breakthrough came with the creation of decentralized keys that are virtually unbreachable, which opened new possibilities in cybersecurity.”
“Today, Tide has evolved from a personal data guardian to a comprehensive cybersecurity solution, protecting password managers, cloud services, critical infrastructure, cyber-physical systems, and code signing solutions. It’s a journey that’s taken us from building data trust to redefining digital asset protection in our complex world.”
Core Mission
What is Tide’s core mission? Hertzog explained:
“Tide’s core mission is ensuring that even if hackers breach a system, they cannot cause harm. At the heart of this is Tide’s Cybersecurity Fabric, a groundbreaking approach to safeguarding digital assets like sensitive data and identities. Tide introduces “magic keys”—keys that allow access to personal data, funds, or accounts but never exist fully in one place. This ensures they cannot be stolen, lost, or misused. Even in the event of a platform breach, these keys and the assets they protect remain inaccessible.”
“A critical component of this approach is decentralized authentication. Traditional systems store passwords or credentials in centralized databases, which, if hacked, compromise all users. With Tide, access credentials are protected like the keys themselves—they do not exist in one centralized location, making them virtually uncompromisable.”
“Tide also offers TideCloak, an off-the-shelf solution for developers to manage user identities and data security. Built on Red Hat’s Keycloak and Tide’s decentralized security, TideCloak allows companies to easily integrate logins, permissions, and security into their platforms. Even in the event of a full system breach, data, identities, and accounts remain secure. With just a few lines of code, developers can focus on creating great products without fearing catastrophic hacks.”
Making A Key No One Can Hold
How do you make a key that no one can ever hold? How is that even possible? Hertzog pointed out:
“The answer to creating a key that no one can ever hold might come as a surprise: it’s inspired by nature, specifically ants. Imagine an ant colony. No single ant controls the operation. Each has a simple role—some gather food, others build tunnels, some defend—but the colony’s power comes from their collective, decentralized approach. No single point of failure can disrupt the entire system.”
“We use a similar principle to protect sensitive information. Instead of having one big key to unlock all your data, we break the key into pieces and distribute them across a network. No single person or system ever holds the complete key. Even if someone accesses some pieces, they can’t reconstruct the whole. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle: the pieces are scattered, and none is useful alone.”
“This concept mirrors secure systems where launching a missile requires multiple people with separate keys. At Tide, key fragments are spread across independent nodes. No one controls enough nodes to reconstruct the key. This decentralized network provides what we call “Cyber-Herd Immunity,” akin to herd immunity in health. By spreading authority, the system becomes harder to compromise. Even if parts are breached, sensitive data stays safe, as collaboration across nodes is required for access.”
Customer Success Stories
When asking Hertzog about customer success stories, he highlighted:
“A collaboration with RMIT University – which itself has a world-renowned cybersecurity research center — stands out as the prime example of how our cutting-edge technology can be applied in real-world scenarios to safeguard critical information systems in ways that couldn’t be achieved before. One of the top universities in the world, it faced a pressing need to secure a particular system crucial for handling highly sensitive student data and requests. The challenge was not just to protect this data from common threats but to ensure that even the most privileged users, like system administrators, could not compromise the system’s integrity.”
“Tide introduced TideCloak to represent a shift from traditional security measures, focusing on Identity, Immunity, and Access Management. Unlike conventional systems where high-level breaches could lead to significant data leaks, TideCloak ensures that data access rights can’t be abused by any system admin, guaranteeing students’ credentials and data remains protected by using cryptographic keys that no single user can access or misuse.”
“The outcomes of the project were remarkable. The swift adoption of TideCloak transformed how RMIT considers data security, setting a new benchmark for protecting sensitive information. The system was not only safeguarded against external threats but also equipped to prevent insider threats, which are often otherwise impossible to mitigate.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Hertzog affirmed:
“What really sets Tide apart is that it’s introducing a fundamentally new way of thinking about cybersecurity – something that simply hasn’t existed before. Because of this, making a direct comparison to competitors can be a bit challenging. Most cybersecurity strategies try to secure sensitive data by strengthening their walls – better encryption, more monitoring, tighter access controls. But they’re still centralized, and that creates a fundamental vulnerability: all authority is concentrated in one place, which means there’s a single point of failure that can be exploited. In contrast, with Tide, even if the walls are breached, there’s nothing valuable for attackers to compromise.”
“Tide isn’t just another tool in the cybersecurity toolbox – it’s more like an entirely new blueprint for building secure platforms. It enables developers to create systems where sensitive authority is never centralized in one place, making it truly resistant to abuse or misuse. It’s a kind of capability that shifts the focus from constant defense to built-in immunity, and that’s what makes direct comparisons with the competition difficult. This isn’t just a better version of the old model – it’s a completely new way of thinking about digital trust and security.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Hertzog assessed:
“Tide’s solution addresses a problem that extends beyond traditional markets, introducing a transformative capability that makes direct comparisons challenging. However, its potential can be understood by examining related areas: cybersecurity, identity and access management (IAM), and cryptographic key solutions.”
“The global cybersecurity market is immense, valued at over $220 billion with annual growth exceeding 12%. Within this, the IAM market is projected to reach $60 billion in the next decade. The key management and encryption segment, valued at $5 billion in 2023, is growing at 19.8% CAGR, driven by increasing demand for secure data solutions.”
“Tide’s opportunity, however, surpasses these established markets. Its TAM is tied to solving the $10.5 trillion in global cybercrime damages projected annually by 2025. This includes data breaches, ransomware, insider attacks, and their widespread ripple effects. These costs highlight the inadequacy of current digital security measures.”
“By eliminating centralized points of failure and introducing cyber-herd immunity, Tide tackles the root causes of cyber risks. It transforms cybersecurity from a blocker to an enabler, preventing catastrophic losses traditional systems can’t. “
Challenges Faced
What challenges have Hertzog and the team face in building the company? Hertzog acknowledged:
“One of the biggest challenges at Tide has been convincing people that what we’re doing is possible. Cybersecurity has always relied on trust in a central authority—whether a vendor, platform, or organization. Our concept of minimizing trust to near-zero levels can seem almost too good to be true.”
“For instance, many cybersecurity experts assume there must still be a central entity to trust, leading them to ask, “Isn’t Tide just another vendor to trust?” Our answer is a firm no. Unlike traditional systems, Tide doesn’t control sensitive keys or data. Instead, we use a decentralized network that ensures no single party, including us, has full control.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Hertzog cited:
“Tide has reached several milestones that showcase both our technological breakthroughs and industry validation:
- Crowdsourced Bounty Campaigns: Our first major milestone was inviting experts and hackers to test our core technology through bounty campaigns. This rigorous external scrutiny validated our system’s effectiveness and scalability while driving meaningful improvements.
- Academic Validation: Arm’s length scrutiny and joint publications with three top tier Universities has been critical to our successful adoption.
- TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield: As the first Australian startup finalist at TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield, we gained international validation. This exposure connected us with industry leaders, investors, and peers.
- Partnership with NTT Global: Partnering with NTT Global, one of the top 10 global players, was a commercial breakthrough, granting access to enterprise markets early in our journey.
- First Enterprise Customer: Securing our first paying customer was pivotal, proving market demand and trust in our innovative cybersecurity approach.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future goals? Hertzog concluded:
Tide has ambitious goals for the future, focused on expanding the impact of our technology while driving innovation in cybersecurity and beyond.
- Broaden Adoption: We aim to make our solutions accessible to businesses of all sizes, from startups to large enterprises. Cybersecurity threats don’t discriminate, but smaller companies often lack the resources to defend themselves. Our decentralized approach offers scalable protection for organizations of any size.
- Introduce Post-Quantum Cryptography: We’re preparing for the quantum computing era by adapting our Cybersecurity Fabric to accommodate quantum resilient key standards, ensuring our security remains future-proof.
Next Funding Round: Lastly, we plan to open investment opportunities in our upcoming funding round. This will help fuel our growth, expand our network, and advance our mission to revolutionize digital security.
