r/hacking rules, stats, and what to post

This is a community for hacking and hackers, built around constructive collaboration and learning. The description points to exploits, industry standards, grey and white hat hacking, new hardware and software hacking technology, and sharing ideas and suggestions for small business and personal security. The people here are practitioners and learners who take the craft seriously, and the rules make it clear they want technical depth, not casual chatter. The description even names small business security as a topic, which is a real opening for founders who work in security, as long as they show up with substance.

The rule that decides most marketing outcomes here is “No spam”. It says spam is strictly forbidden and will result in a ban, but it also opens a real door: professional promotion from security firms and pen testing companies is allowed within site-wide self promotion rules. So a security company can post here, but only inside the limits of Reddit's own self promotion policy. “No off-topic posts” matters just as much, because off-topic posts are treated as spam, which means an off-topic promo is not just removed, it is treated like spam. “No low-effort posts” decides whether your content survives at all, since posts without educational value get removed, and the rule gives a clear example: a picture of a reverse shell on its own is removed, but the same post with the author describing their method of exploitation is allowed. “Keep it legal” sets the floor, because encouraging or aiding illegal activities is not allowed even though discussing legality is fine. “We are not your personal army” is a hard ban line for anyone asking the community to hack something for them or trying to hire hackers. “No 'How do I start hacking?' posts” sends beginner questions elsewhere, while intermediate questions are welcome. “No 'I got hacked' posts” only allows interesting post-mortems of unique attacks. “We are not tech support” pushes support requests to another subreddit. Finally, “Don't be a dick” sets the tone for how you behave in the comments.

A good post here teaches something. If you are a security founder, the strongest shape is a technical writeup where you explain your method, because the rules say a post showing an exploit is only allowed if the author describes how the exploitation worked in the post or the comments. A post-mortem of a real, unique attack you investigated fits the spirit of the community, as long as it is genuinely interesting and not just my account got phished. Intermediate technical questions are explicitly welcome, so a well-formed question about how a security mechanism works can do well. If you promote, stay inside the professional promotion lane the rules describe, follow site-wide self promotion rules, and make sure the post is on topic and has educational value. Share ideas and suggestions for small business and personal security, since the description names that as core territory. Be nice in the comments, answer questions, and encourage learning, because that is what the community asks for.

The fastest way to get banned is asking the community to hack something for you, trying to hire hackers, asking for help with your DoS, or asking how to get into someone's instagram, because “We are not your personal army” says offering or requesting these things results in a ban. Anything illegal is out under “Keep it legal”. Beginner questions like how to start hacking go to /r/howtohack or the stickied post, not here. A plain I got hacked story gets removed unless it is an interesting post-mortem of a unique attack. Tech support requests belong on /r/techsupport. Low-effort content, memes, jokes, and posts with no educational value get removed at moderator discretion. Spam is strictly forbidden and results in a ban, and off-topic posts are treated as spam. Sharing personal data, doxxing, or IP dumping is forbidden. And in the comments, do not be a dick, because the community expects people to play nice, support each other, and encourage learning.

What strikes me most here is rule 8, because it tells you exactly how to earn your place: show the method, not just the result. A screenshot with no explanation gets removed, but the same screenshot with a real writeup of how the exploit worked is welcome. That is a rare gift for a founder, because it forces you to give value before you take any.