1337sheets

Offensive Security Research & Writeups

🔓 We're Looking for Elite Security Authors

Join our growing team of cybersecurity researchers and content creators. We need skilled professionals who can craft world-class writeups, technical reports, and walkthroughs for VulnHub and beyond.

📢 About 1337sheets

1337sheets is the go-to resource for penetration testers, red teamers, and security enthusiasts worldwide. We publish in-depth technical writeups, cheat sheets, methodology guides, and vulnerability research that help thousands of professionals level up their skills every single day.

Our content covers everything from beginner-friendly machine walkthroughs to advanced exploit development chains, Active Directory attack paths, web application hacking, and privilege escalation techniques across both Linux and Windows environments.

We're expanding our author team — and we want YOU.

Whether you're an experienced security blogger, a ranked challenge platform competitor, or someone who's been quietly writing incredible walkthroughs on your personal blog — we want to give you a platform to reach tens of thousands of readers and get recognized for your expertise.

🖥️ The Role: Security Content Author

┌──(1337sheets㉿hiring)─[~/open-positions]
└─$ cat role-details.txt

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
  1337sheets — SECURITY CONTENT AUTHOR — 2026
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════

  ROLE:        Security Content Author
  TYPE:        Remote / Freelance / Part-time
  PLATFORMS:   VulnHub, Challenge Sites, Security Labs
  START:       Immediately
  LOCATION:    Worldwide (fully remote)

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════

As a Security Content Author at 1337sheets, you will be responsible for producing high-quality, educational, and technically accurate content across multiple offensive security platforms. Your work will be read by thousands of aspiring and experienced penetration testers, red teamers, and cybersecurity professionals.

What You'll Be Doing

  • 📝 Writing full machine writeups for VulnHub VMs and retired challenge machines across all difficulty levels
  • 📝 Producing technical reports that follow industry-standard penetration testing report formats
  • 📝 Developing cheat sheets & methodology guides that serve as quick-reference tools for practitioners
  • 📝 Covering CTF challenges with detailed explanations of techniques, tools, and thought processes
  • 📝 Reviewing and editing peer content for technical accuracy and quality

🟢 Vulnerable Machine Experience — Required

We need authors who live and breathe vulnerable machines. From VulnHub VMs to retired challenge boxes, advanced lab environments to full attack simulations — you should know your way around downloadable and hosted targets inside and out, and be able to translate that knowledge into clear, educational content that readers can follow step by step.

What Machine Experience Looks Like For Us

┌──(1337sheets㉿requirements)─[~/experience]
└─$ ./check_experience.sh

[✓] Active profiles on challenge platforms with proven track record
[✓] Experience across ALL difficulty levels:
     → Easy    — Clear enumeration → foothold → root methodology
     → Medium  — Multi-step exploitation, chaining vulnerabilities
     → Hard    — Complex attack paths, custom exploits, pivoting
     → Insane  — Advanced techniques, 0-day-style research

[✓] Familiarity with target categories:
     → Linux machines (web apps, kernel exploits, SUID abuse)
     → Windows machines (AD attacks, token impersonation, service exploits)
     → Active Directory labs (Kerberoasting, ASREPRoasting, DCSync)

[✓] Advanced lab & multi-machine environment experience
[✓] Challenge experience (Crypto, Reversing, Pwn, Web, Forensics)

[*] Strong WeChall or global challenge rankings preferred
[*] Active VulnHub contributor or documented machine completions

Ideal Author Profile

Category Expectation
Machines Owned 50+ completed machines minimum
Difficulty Range Experience across Easy → Insane
Operating Systems Both Linux and Windows targets
Advanced Labs At least one multi-machine lab completed
Challenges Active in 2+ challenge categories
Rankings WeChall or equivalent global ranking preferred
Writeup History Portfolio of 10+ published writeups

🟠 Lab & Certification Proficiency — Required

Ideal candidates have hands-on experience with offensive security training labs and certification paths. Whether you've conquered industry certifications or worked through advanced lab environments — we want people who've been in the trenches and can write about it with authority and authenticity.

📋 Full Requirements

┌──(1337sheets㉿requirements)─[~/hiring]
└─$ cat full-requirements.md

🔴 Must-Have Requirements

These are non-negotiable. Every candidate must demonstrate these skills.

1. Proven Machine Exploitation Experience

Active or historical experience pwning vulnerable machines across all difficulty levels. You should be comfortable with enumeration, exploitation, post-exploitation, and privilege escalation on both Linux and Windows targets. We'll ask for your challenge platform profiles and rankings.

2. Lab & Training Background

Hands-on experience with offensive security training labs and structured learning environments. Industry certifications are a strong plus. If you've been through rigorous lab work and exam scenarios, you know the depth of content we're looking for.

3. Strong Technical Writing Skills

You can produce structured, clear, and engaging writeups. Proper use of code blocks, screenshots, tool outputs, and step-by-step methodology is essential. Your reports should educate, not just document — readers should walk away having learned something new with every piece you publish.

4. Published Portfolio

You have an existing body of work — whether that's a personal blog, published writeups, or contributions to other security platforms. Show us what you've created. Quality and consistency matter more than quantity.

🟡 Nice-to-Have (Bonus Skills)

These aren't required, but they'll make your application stand out.

BONUS_SKILLS = [
    "Top-tier WeChall or global challenge rankings",
    "Industry offensive security certifications",
    "CTF competition experience (team or solo)",
    "Bug bounty experience on HackerOne / Bugcrowd",
    "Knowledge of report writing (pentest report format)",
    "Familiarity with MITRE ATT&CK framework",
    "Active security blog, personal website, or YouTube channel",
    "Experience with Burp Suite Pro, Cobalt Strike, or Sliver C2",
    "Programming skills (Python, Go, Bash, PowerShell)",
    "Active Directory attack path expertise",
    "Web application security specialization",
    "Binary exploitation / reverse engineering skills",
    "Cloud security experience (AWS/Azure/GCP pentesting)",
    "VulnHub VM completions and community contributions",
]

📄 The Kind of Content We Publish

Here's a preview of the structure and depth we expect in every writeup. Every piece on 1337sheets follows a professional, educational format — from reconnaissance to root.

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║                                                              ║
║   📄 Machine: Headless — Full Writeup                       ║
║   ─────────────────────────────────────                      ║
║   Platform:   VulnHub                                        ║
║   OS:         Linux                                          ║
║   Difficulty: Medium                                         ║
║   Author:     @ghostrider                                    ║
║   Published:  February 2026                                  ║
║   Read Time:  ~12 minutes                                    ║
║                                                              ║
║   TABLE OF CONTENTS                                          ║
║   ┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐               ║
║   │ 01 → Reconnaissance & Enumeration        │               ║
║   │ 02 → Web Application Analysis            │               ║
║   │ 03 → Initial Foothold (XSS → Cookie)     │               ║
║   │ 04 → User Flag & Lateral Movement        │               ║
║   │ 05 → Privilege Escalation (Syscheck)     │               ║
║   │ 06 → Root Flag & Cleanup                 │               ║
║   │ 07 → Lessons Learned & Mitigations       │               ║
║   └──────────────────────────────────────────┘               ║
║                                                              ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Content Standards

Every writeup published on 1337sheets must include:

  • Full reconnaissance output — nmap scans, directory bruting, service enumeration
  • Clear methodology — explain WHY you chose each step, not just WHAT you did
  • Code blocks with syntax highlighting — all commands, scripts, and tool outputs properly formatted
  • Screenshots at critical exploitation steps (foothold, shell, flags)
  • Exploit explanation — don't just run the exploit; explain HOW it works under the hood
  • Privilege escalation methodology — document the path from user to root with full context
  • Lessons learned — what defenders can do to prevent this attack
  • Tools used — list all tools with version numbers and links
  • References — CVEs, blog posts, documentation referenced during the engagement

📊 1337sheets by the Numbers

Metric Value
📝 Writeups Published 500+
👥 Monthly Readers 50,000+
🖥️ Machines Covered 120+
✍️ Active Authors 25+
🌍 Countries Reached 80+

🎁 What You Get — Benefits & Perks

We believe in taking care of our authors. When you join 1337sheets, you're joining a community of elite security professionals who support each other, grow together, and get rewarded for their contributions.

💰 Competitive Pay

Get paid per writeup with premium rates for complex machines (Hard/Insane), advanced lab coverage, and in-depth reports. Bonus payments for content that drives exceptional traffic or community engagement.

🌍 Fully Remote

Work from anywhere in the world. Set your own schedule. We care about output quality, not office hours. Whether you're writing at 2 AM from a coffee shop in Tokyo or noon from your home office — we just want great content.

📛 Full Author Credit

Full byline on every piece you publish. Build your personal brand and reputation while contributing to the community. Your name, your bio, your social links — front and center on every article.

🏆 Community & Growth

Join a private Discord with other 1337sheets authors. Peer reviews, knowledge sharing, collaboration on complex machines, and opportunities to grow as both a hacker and a writer.

🗺️ How to Apply — The Process

Our hiring process is designed to be straightforward and respectful of your time. No leetcode interviews, no whiteboard nonsense — just prove you can hack and write about it.

STEP 01 ──→ STEP 02 ──→ STEP 03 ──→ STEP 04
Submit       Sample       Review &     Welcome to
Application  Writeup      Feedback     the Team!

Step 01: Submit Your Application 📩

Send us your portfolio, a brief introduction, and links to your existing writeups or blog. Tell us which platforms you're most experienced with and your areas of expertise.

Include in your application:

  • Your name (or handle) and a short bio
  • Your personal website or blog with published security content
  • Your WeChall profile and/or global challenge platform rankings
  • Links to your challenge platform profiles and/or certifications
  • 3–5 of your best published writeups or articles
  • Which types of content you'd like to focus on
  • Your preferred writing frequency (e.g., 2 writeups/month, 4/month, etc.)

Step 02: Sample Writeup ✍️

We'll assign you a VulnHub VM or retired challenge machine. Write a complete, publication-ready writeup following our style guide. This is your chance to showcase your methodology, writing skills, and technical depth.

What we evaluate:

  • Technical accuracy and depth
  • Writing clarity and structure
  • Educational value (does the reader learn?)
  • Proper formatting (code blocks, screenshots, tool outputs)
  • Adherence to our style guide

Step 03: Review & Feedback 🔍

Our editorial team reviews your submission and provides detailed feedback. We look at technical accuracy, writing quality, structure, and educational value. We'll schedule a short call to discuss your work, answer your questions, and talk about what working with us looks like.

Step 04: Welcome to the Team! 🎉

If your work meets our standards — you're in. We'll onboard you with our tools, style guide, and editorial process. You'll get access to our private channels, your lab subscriptions, and you can start publishing content on 1337sheets.

📬 Ready to Apply?

┌──(1337sheets㉿recruiting)─[~/apply]
└─$ ./submit_application.sh

[*] Checking prerequisites...
[✓] Vulnerable machine experience detected
[✓] Lab proficiency confirmed
[✓] Writing portfolio found
[✓] Passion for infosec education: MAXIMUM

[*] All checks passed. Preparing application...
[!] Application submitted successfully!

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#   HOW TO REACH US
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  📧 Email:    [email protected]

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⚡ Don't Wait — Positions Are Limited

If you've got the skills, the experience, and the drive to create exceptional security content — we want to hear from you. Your next writeup could be on 1337sheets.

📧 Send your application to: [email protected]

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