Melih Abdulhayoglu created Comodo in 1998 with a bold vision of making the Trusted Internet a reality for all. His innovations have challenged some of the largest corporations and deeply entrenched business models to make the vision a reality, and his success has benefited the ecommerce industry, online businesses and users alike. Melih's pioneering business model has allowed him to provide the Comodo Firewall absolutely free, while continuing to grow revenue by over 30 percent, year over year. This innovative business model earned him Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2008 Award in the Information Technology Software Category for New Jersey.

Melih earned a BS in Electronic Engineering from Bradford University in 1991. During his tenure at Bradford, Melih was instrumental in creating new digital security technologies for large enterprises, computer manufacturers and governmental organizations worldwide. Using that experience and training, Melih established Comodo's core business building principle around the concept of Value Innovation - delivering solutions recognized for their technological innovation that has high value in the marketplace.

This intense focus on creating trust online has yielded such significant results that within just three years, Comodo has powered its way to the number two Certificate Authority position, controlling nearly one-third of all SSL certificates worldwide. Meanwhile, the company's award-winning, free firewall has become one of the most downloaded products in the world, protecting another PC every second of every day.