Detroit Cyberprivacy Platform is Redefining Internet Privacy Standards

As co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of WealthX, a market research and data analysis company, Mykolas Rambus did not readily anticipate also wading into the business of cybersecurity.  

“At WealthX we built a database of wealth profiles of high-net-worth individuals, based on publicly available information. We thought it would be helpful in sales, philanthropy and investment. But we soon became a target of foreign intelligence, organized crime, rogue states and more. We needed a way to protect ourselves. When we turned to journalists, law enforcement and others who were in the same boat, we quickly discovered no solution existed.” 

It was from this need that Hush was born. Hush is an AI company built with the intention of helping people defend themselves online. 

“We never anticipated becoming a target for espionage,” said Rambus. “Then, when we did, and we had people calling our personal numbers, emailing threats to family members—we were astounded that there was no technology solution available to help.”  

In 2020, while attending Detroit Homecoming, an annual event hosted by Crain’s Detroit Business, Rambus connected with Jake Cohen of Detroit Venture Partners (DVP), a early-stage venture capital firm founded by Dan Gilbert in 2010. It was during this conversation, about the challenges faced when trying to remove personal information from the internet, that Rambus realized the technology to do so at scale already exists.  

Anyone who has tried to report an imposter social media account, or tried to have an embarrassing photo taken offline, knows the difficulty of removing information from the internet.  

Hush developed a mechanism that does the hard part, with AI. “We have programs that run at scale, instead of pinging a site via a form, and then having to repeat the process at another site, and then another and another, our system does it all,” said Rambus.  

“Other companies use the same AI we use to find information about a person for solicitation or surveillance. We use the same technology, but in a defensive way,” said Rambus. “With our massive AI search apparatus, we find what we can about an individual, on the dark web, on public sites, anywhere we can. Then, after we’ve found it, we do the hard part.” 

Rambus worked with his co-founders over the next year and officially launched the platform in late 2021, adding to the flourishing entrepreneurial spirit and technological scene in Downtown Detroit.  

“We like to think of ourselves as carrying on the technology legacy of Detroit, specifically cybersecurity. People don’t always think of Detroit as a birthplace of technology, but they should. It’s one of the innovation capitals of the world.” 

As partner of Detroit Venture Partners, Hush gained immediate access to the diversified portfolio the Rocket Family of Companies offered. “DVP team members have a broad perspective across segments and can come up with solid ideas. They helped with iteration, development and perspective. That really supported us in the early days,” said Rambus. “Then, in raising capital, going from one round to another can be a challenge. But, with DVP being such an active investor, they opened doors for us, introduced us to others.” 

DVP not only offered Hush the capital and connection to expand its business enterprises but a foundational connection to the technological community and people of Detroit. The partnership with DVP, who champions being For More Than Profit and placing people fire, echoed Rambus’ own motivations for developing Hush—to keep everyday citizens’ information defended from malicious use.  

“Once a week I get a call from someone being stalked or harassed. Or I hear from an executive receiving death threats. When we think about what we do, there’s a very human application. It’s about saving lives. What is more important than that? It’s way more than profit,” said Ramus.  

There is ample room for Hush to continue growing. With the number of people using the internet steadily increasing, the number of cyber threats also increases. Add to that the omnipresence of personal information and it is creating newer risks with increased danger.  

“People’s information is everywhere. With ransom attacks it used to be that you paid the ransom, and they gave back your information. Now, bad actors are threatening to reach out to patients, clients and individuals to tell them about the attack. They’re finding leaders of organizations and cyberstalking them, their families and associates. It’s just escalating,” Rambus adds. “We don’t want any one to go through that. That’s why we created Hush. We want to silence the cyberstalking, harassment and risk.”