r/netsec rules, stats, and what to post
Know the rules before you post. So easy grandma can do it.
- To post
- No minimum in the rules
- To comment
- No minimum in the rules
- Self-promotion
- Allowed with conditions
- Allowed only if the user has a preexisting relationship with the community for 6+ months and a personal stake in its success.
- Links
- Allowed with conditions
- Must link to the original source of the information unless hosted on YouTube or SlideShare, or if the original source is no longer online.
- Promo risk
- Medium
- From the rules, not from removal counts
- Community age
- 19 years
- Since May 2007
About r/netsec
A source-backed Rankhog guide to r/netsec: public rules, community context, posting fit, and startup-promotion risk before you publish.Checked from the r/netsec rules on Reddit.
r/netsec rules
9 rules, in the community's own words.
- 1
Always link to the original source.
We require that all submitted links be the original source of the information; whether it's a blog post, conference presentation, paper, video, mailing list item, etc. The only exceptions made are for content that is hosted on sites like YouTube or SlideShare, or if the original source is no longer available online. » More details
- 2
Titles should provide context.
Submission titles should give a brief bit of context for readers; being terse yet informative is ideal. » More details
- 3
Check the new queue for duplicates.
To avoid being flooded with news-of-the-week style stories, we remove links to subject matter that has already had recent coverage in the subreddit; should a new article be submitted which adds significant depth to the analysis, reach out to us - we're often willing to make exceptions for high quality content. » More details
- 4
Commercial advertisement is discouraged.
Our subscribers are here for interesting technical content, not to line your wallet. We don't allow the posting of commercial content unless the submitting user has both a preexisting relationship with our community, and a personal stake in its success. If you have not been submitting quality content or comments to /r/netsec for 6+ months and have had a minimal number of removed submissions, you should refrain from posting links to commercial services or products.
- 5
Don't create unnecessary conflict
Discussions should remain polite and civil; any hostility toward other users is likely to draw the ire of the moderators and a sharp rap from the banhammer.
- 6
No prohibited content or sources
/r/netsec requires that all posts be technical in nature and high quality. Multiple topics and sources are not permitted to be submitted due to conflicts with this requirement; our fulltext list of prohibited topics and sources, linked below, provides more details. » More details
- 7
No low-quality or political posts
Submissions that are low quality or political in nature (instead of technical) are not permitted on /r/netsec and are subject to moderation.
- 8
No tool posts
We do not accept links to tool/exploit code or READMEs - please post these in the monthly discussion/tool thread instead. We do accept links to quality technical posts explaining what is innovative about a tool.
- 9
No AI-generated posts
LLM-generated posts are not welcome
What to post in r/netsec
What fits the room, and what gets removed.
Works well
- A detailed breakdown of a new vulnerability discovered in a specific piece of software, provided with a link to the original research paper.
- A high quality technical analysis explaining the innovative aspects of a new security tool, linked to the original technical post.
- A curated summary of a recent conference presentation that dives deep into a niche security topic, ensuring you link to the presentation source.
- A deep dive into a specific security concept, such as zero trust architecture, backed by original industry reports.
Avoid
- Posting content that is political or low quality, because the community requires everything to be technical.
- Submitting links to tool or exploit code directly, since those must go into the monthly discussion thread.
- Posting AI generated content, as the rules explicitly ban submissions made by large language models.
- Sending commercial advertisements unless you have a long history of contributing quality content to the community.
- Posting content that is a duplicate of something that has recently been covered in the subreddit.
Best hours to post in r/netsec
No pattern yet. r/netsec does not have enough top posts from the last 90 days to name its best hours.
What r/netsec Is For
This community is a curated place for technical information security content. The mission is to pull out the important signal from all the noise. It is meant to provide value to security practitioners, students, researchers, and hackers who are interested in deep technical topics.
Rules That Matter Before Posting
The rules that decide if your marketing adjacent post survives are “Always link to the original source.”, “Titles should provide context.”, “Check the new queue for duplicates.”, “Commercial advertisement is discouraged.”, “No prohibited content or sources.”, “No low-quality or political posts,” “No tool posts,” and “No AI-generated posts.”
What To Post
As a founder doing respectful marketing, you should focus on providing genuine technical value to the community. Your posts should be highly technical and should always link to the original source of the information. Your titles need to give a brief bit of context so readers know exactly what they are looking at. If you are promoting something, you must first meet the strict requirements for promotion outlined in the rules.
What To Avoid
You must avoid submitting anything that is political or low quality, because the subreddit requires all posts to be technical in nature and high quality. You also must avoid submitting multiple topics or sources in one post due to this requirement. Additionally, you must avoid posting AI generated content.
A note from Anthony
The rules in r/netsec are very strict about keeping the content highly technical and focused on signal over noise. It is clear that the moderators prioritize deep, verifiable research over general news or promotion. If you want to get a foot in the door, your content needs to be genuinely valuable to a security practitioner.
By Anthony Riera, founder and operator of Rankhog. Every guide is built from the community's own public rules and data, then checked by Rankhog's grounding audit before it goes live.
Common questions about r/netsec
What subreddits are similar to r/netsec?
Subreddits like r/netsec are r/hacking, r/privacy, r/cybersecurity, r/Scams, r/degoogle, r/AskNetsec, r/OSINT and r/brave_browser.
Do I need to link to the original source when I post a piece of technical information?
You must always link to the original source of the information, unless the content is hosted on YouTube or SlideShare, or if the original source is no longer available online.
Can I post links to my own tool or exploit code in this community?
No, you cannot post tool or exploit code directly, but you are welcome to post a high quality technical post explaining what is innovative about a tool.
Is it okay to promote my business or product here?
Commercial advertisement is discouraged, and you should refrain from posting links to commercial services or products unless you have a preexisting relationship with the community for at least six months.
Subreddits like r/netsec
Other rooms for the same crowd.