Terms

Terms of Use

Last updated: August 26, 2026

These terms govern your use of obsidianridge.io(the “Site”). This site is operated by Obsidian Ridge LLC, a North Carolina limited liability company. By using the Site, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Site.

1. About Obsidian Ridge

Obsidian Ridge is a CISSP-led cybersecurity practice operated by Kfir Yair. Most of the Site is a marketing and information resource: reading it, downloading something, running a free assessment, or booking a briefing does not create a consulting, advisory, or client relationship.

A paid relationship is formed in exactly two ways. Either (a) you and Obsidian Ridge sign a written engagement agreement or service order — how managed security tiers, the Cyber Insurance Readiness Sprint, and assessments are bought; or (b) you buy a Ridge Watch subscription through checkout on this Site, which creates a paid subscription governed by these terms and our Refund & Cancellation Policy, with nothing further to sign. Nothing else on the Site creates a client relationship or a payment obligation.

1.1 Subscriptions renew automatically

Ridge Watch subscriptions renew automatically at the price and interval shown at checkout, and your saved payment method is charged on each renewal date, until you cancel. Monthly plans renew monthly; annual plans are charged for a full year up front and renew every twelve months. You can cancel at any time, online and without contacting us, in the billing portal, using the email address you used at checkout; cancellation takes effect at the end of the period you have already paid for. The complete renewal, cancellation, and refund terms — current prices, the annual-plan refund window, and what happens to your data afterwards — are in our Refund & Cancellation Policy, which forms part of these terms for anyone who subscribes.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old, or the age of majority in your jurisdiction, to use this Site or submit any form. By using the Site, you represent that you meet this requirement and that any information you provide is accurate.

3. Permitted use

You may:

• Read, share, and link to publicly accessible pages.
• Quote brief excerpts of articles with attribution to Obsidian Ridge and a link back.
• Subscribe to the newsletter and submit forms in good faith.
• Use information on the Site to inform your own security decisions, with the understanding that the content is informational and is not legal, financial, insurance, or other professional advice tailored to your situation.

You may not:

• Copy, republish, or redistribute substantial portions of the content without permission.
• Use automated tools to scrape, crawl, or harvest content or contact information.
• Probe, scan, or attempt to test the security of the Site, its sub-processors, or any system reached through it without prior written authorization.
• Submit false, misleading, or impersonated information through any form.
• Use the Site to send spam, phishing content, malware, or unlawful material.
• Bypass rate limits, CAPTCHA, or anti-abuse controls.
• Use Obsidian Ridge content to train, fine-tune, or evaluate commercial machine-learning or artificial-intelligence systems without prior written consent.

4. User submissions

When you submit information through a form (briefing, assessment intake, newsletter), you grant Obsidian Ridge a limited license to use that information to respond to you, deliver the service you requested, and improve the operation of the Site. We will handle that information in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Do not submit confidential third-party information, regulated personal data (PHI, PCI, full SSNs), credentials, or sensitive incident artifacts through the public forms. If you have an active incident or need to share sensitive information, contact security@obsidianridge.io first and we will arrange a secure channel.

5. Intellectual property

All content on the Site — including articles, graphics, the Obsidian Ridge name, logo, and visual system — is the property of Obsidian Ridge or its licensors and is protected by United States and international intellectual property laws. Trademarks and product names belonging to third parties are the property of their respective owners and are referenced only for editorial purposes.

6. Copyright complaints (DMCA notice and takedown)

Obsidian Ridge respects the intellectual property rights of others and expects users to do the same. In accordance with the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 512), we will respond to clear notices of alleged copyright infringement involving material on the Site.

If you believe your copyrighted work has been used in a way that constitutes infringement, send a written notice to our designated agent at copyright@obsidianridge.io that includes:

• Your physical or electronic signature.
• Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed.
• Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing, with enough detail for us to locate it (a URL is best).
• Your contact information: name, address, telephone number, and email.
• A statement that you have a good-faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
• A statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or are authorized to act on the owner's behalf.

If your content is removed and you believe the removal was a mistake or misidentification, you may submit a counter-notification to the same address with the elements required under 17 U.S.C. § 512(g). We may terminate access for users who are determined to be repeat infringers. Misrepresentations in either a notice or counter-notification may result in liability under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f).

7. Affiliate links and third-party recommendations

Some links on the Site are affiliate links. We disclose this clearly and conspicuously per the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's Endorsement Guides (16 CFR Part 255). When you click an affiliate link and complete a qualifying action with the vendor, Obsidian Ridge may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. Full details are in our Privacy & Affiliate Disclosure.

Recommendations and comparisons reflect our professional judgment based on direct experience or thorough public-record review. We do not promise that any product will prevent every threat, eliminate every risk, or produce a specific outcome. Vendor terms, prices, and security postures can change after we publish; verify them at the vendor before purchase.

8. Third-party services and links

The Site uses sub-processors (listed in the Privacy Policy) and may link to third-party sites. We are not responsible for the content, privacy practices, or security of third-party services. Your interactions with those services are governed by their own terms.

9. No professional advice; informational only

Articles, comparisons, assessments, checklists, and other content on the Site are educational. They do not constitute legal, accounting, tax, insurance, medical, or other professional advice, and they are not a substitute for engagement with a licensed professional for your specific situation. Cybersecurity is contextual: a recommendation that fits a 25-person firm may not fit a 5-person household. Apply judgment, and contact us for an engagement if you need tailored guidance.

10. Service availability

We make commercially reasonable efforts to keep the Site available but do not guarantee uninterrupted access. The Site may be unavailable for maintenance, deployments, vendor outages, or events outside our control. Features and content may change without notice.

11. RSS feeds and content syndication

Obsidian Ridge publishes an RSS feed at /rss.xml and structured indexes at /llms.txt and /llms-full.txt for human readers and well-behaved bots. Personal, non-commercial reading and aggregation in standard feed readers is welcome.

You may not:

• Rehost, mirror, or syndicate full-text article content on another site or service without prior written consent.
• Use feed content for training, fine-tuning, or evaluating commercial machine-learning or artificial-intelligence systems.
• Strip attribution, modify headlines or summaries, or present Obsidian Ridge content under a different brand.
• Generate derivative compilations (top-10 lists, summaries, paid-newsletter content) that materially reproduce Obsidian Ridge content without an editorial license from us.

12. Export controls and U.S. trade compliance

Information and content on the Site originate in the United States and may be subject to U.S. export control laws, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and sanctions programs administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). You may not access, download, or use the Site if you are located in, ordinarily a resident of, or a national of any country or region subject to comprehensive U.S. sanctions (currently including Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and the Crimea, so-called Donetsk People's Republic, and so-called Luhansk People's Republic regions of Ukraine), or if you appear on any U.S. government list of restricted or prohibited persons (including the OFAC SDN List). You represent and warrant that you are not on any such list and that your use of the Site does not violate any applicable export control or sanctions law.

13. Disclaimers

THE SITE AND ALL CONTENT ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE,” WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND ACCURACY. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SITE WILL BE ERROR-FREE, SECURE, UNINTERRUPTED, OR FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT FOLLOWING ANY RECOMMENDATION WILL PREVENT A SECURITY INCIDENT, DATA BREACH, IDENTITY THEFT, FRAUD, OR OTHER LOSS.

14. Limitation of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, OBSIDIAN RIDGE AND ITS OPERATOR SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, GOODWILL, OR BUSINESS, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THE SITE OR ANY CONTENT, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. TO THE EXTENT LIABILITY CANNOT BE FULLY DISCLAIMED, OUR AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SITE IS LIMITED TO ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS (US $100). NOTHING IN THIS SECTION LIMITS LIABILITY THAT CANNOT BE LIMITED OR EXCLUDED BY LAW.

These limits do not apply to a separate signed engagement, which has its own liability terms.

15. Statute of limitations

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to your use of the Site or these terms must be filed within one (1) year after the claim or cause of action arose, or be permanently barred. If applicable law prohibits this limitation, the statutory minimum filing period under that law applies.

16. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Obsidian Ridge from any claim, demand, loss, liability, or expense (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from your misuse of the Site, your violation of these terms, or your violation of any law or third-party right in connection with your use of the Site.

17. Suspension and termination of access

We may, at our sole discretion and without prior notice, suspend or terminate your access to the Site (in whole or in part) if we reasonably believe that you have violated these terms, engaged in abusive or unlawful conduct, or otherwise created risk to the Site, its sub-processors, or other users. Suspension or termination is not exclusive of any other remedy available to us at law or in equity.

Terminating your access to the Site does not by itself cancel a paid subscription, and cancelling a paid subscription does not by itself restrict your access to the Site. If we terminate a paid subscription for any reason other than your breach of these terms, we refund the unused prepaid portion.

Sections that by their nature should survive termination — including Sections 5 (Intellectual property), 6 (Copyright complaints), 11 (RSS feeds), 12 (Export controls), 13 (Disclaimers), 14 (Limitation of liability), 15 (Statute of limitations), 16 (Indemnification), 18 (Governing law), and 19 (Informal dispute resolution) — will survive any termination of your access to the Site.

18. Governing law and venue

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of North Carolina, USA, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. Any dispute that is not resolved informally must be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Wake County, North Carolina, and you consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts.

19. Informal dispute resolution

Before filing any claim, you agree to contact us at security@obsidianridge.io with a written description of the dispute and to allow at least 30 days for a good-faith effort to resolve the matter without litigation. We will make the same effort with any claim we have against you.

20. Notice for California users

Under California Civil Code § 1789.3, California users are entitled to the following consumer-rights notice. The Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs may be contacted in writing at:

California Department of Consumer Affairs
Consumer Information Division
1625 North Market Boulevard, Suite N 112
Sacramento, CA 95834

Or by telephone at (800) 952-5210 (toll-free in California) or (916) 445-1254. The Site is free to browse; the only paid product offered on it is the Ridge Watch subscription described in Section 1.1, priced as shown at checkout. California users with questions or complaints regarding the Site can reach Obsidian Ridge directly at security@obsidianridge.io, and billing questions at support@obsidianridge.io.

California subscribers: consistent with California’s automatic-renewal law, the renewal terms above are disclosed before purchase, your consent to them is obtained at checkout, and you may cancel online at any time in the billing portal without speaking to anyone.

21. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. The “Last updated” date at the top reflects the most recent revision. Continued use of the Site after a revision constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.

22. Severability, assignment, and entire agreement

If any provision of these terms is held invalid or unenforceable, that provision is modified to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions remain in full force. You may not assign or transfer these terms, by operation of law or otherwise, without our prior written consent; any attempted assignment in violation of this section is void. We may assign these terms freely. These terms, together with our Privacy Policy and Refund & Cancellation Policy, are the entire agreement between you and Obsidian Ridge regarding your use of the Site and any subscription bought on it. For engagements bought under a separate signed engagement agreement, that agreement supplements these documents and controls where it conflicts with this Site-level policy; for a self-serve subscription there is no separate agreement, and these terms together with the Refund & Cancellation Policy control.

23. Contact

Questions about these terms: security@obsidianridge.io. Copyright notices: copyright@obsidianridge.io. Phone: (984) 999-7785. Mail can be sent to Obsidian Ridge LLC, 964 High House Rd, PMB 2086, Cary, NC 27513.