WE'RE IN!

In this episode of the We're In Podcast, host Ryan Rutan Synack's Sr Director of Community sits down with independent security researcher and Synack Red Team member Malcolm Stagg.

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In this episode of WE'RE IN, Josh Mason sits down with SRT member Austin, a rising star on the Synack Red Team. Austin shares his hacker origin story and pulls back the curtain on what it takes to break into elite researcher programs. He also deep-dives into his recent "heavy hitter" win: using a JSON Web Token inspection to completely demolish the authorization schema of a U.S. financial services platform, gaining full administrative control.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 - Introduction

00:39 - A Day in the Life of an SRT Hacker

02:08 - Fast Track to Synack Red Team Level 5

03:12 - Hacker Origin Story

04:40 - Mentorship in Synack Red Team

05:46 - HackerOne vs. Synack: Why Synack is Better for Researchers

07:02 - How Patch Verifications Actually Work

09:16 - Compromising a Financial Platform via JWT

11:10 - Advice to Join the Synack Red Team: Get your OSCP

12:32 - Advice to Cyber Newbies: Always Keep Learning

14:14 - Hunting Authorization and Injection Issues for Synack

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On this episode of WE'RE IN, Josh Mason sits down with Ty Bross, Offensive Security Lead for Sidekick Security and Researcher for the Synack Red Team. Ty discusses his teenage hacking origins, how he broke into the cybersecurity profession, his favorite hacks, and advice to aspiring penetration testers.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

01:50 Understanding Business Logic Vulnerabilities

03:44 Hacker Origin Story

08:18 Joining the Synack Red Team

09:32 Staying Sharp by Hunting for Bugs

11:00 Supplemental Income with The Synack Red Team

11:43 Collaboration with the Synack Red Team

16:37 Chaining Small Exploits Together

17:50 Advice to Aspiring Synack Red Team Researchers

20:54 What Customers Don't Know About Pentesters

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In this episode, host Josh Mason chats with Synack Red Team Legend Ozgur Alp, who shares his offensive security journey from university to big four consulting to full-time Synack Red Team researcher. Ozgur gives his unique take on where AI excels (and falls short), which roles AI will replace, and whether the cost of AI is sustainable in the long-term.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction: Meet Ozgur

03:28 Joining the Synack Red Team

07:13 Critical Authorization and Authentication Bugs

08:03 Why Ozgur Still Uses Burp 1.7.37

08:32 Pentesting with AI and Automation

09:12 Will AI Replace Human Pentesters?

11:53 Why AI Struggles with Business Logic

13:45 Why Google Can't "Solve" XSS (Even with AI)

14:47 How Mythos is Changing Offensive Security

16:15 The Benefits of Hacking with AI

17:09 How AI is Changing Pentesting

19:42 Vibe Coding is Creating More Security Vulnerabilities

23:11 Is the Cost of AI Sustainable Long-Term?

23:51 Closing Remarks

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Josh Mason sits down with Tim Nordvedt, Synack's Senior Manager of North American Solutions Architects, to discuss his unique cybersecurity origin story, the power of networking, automating attack surface discovery, and why "falling in love with learning" is the only way to survive an AI-driven security landscape.

Chapter Timestamps

00:00 Introduction: Meet Tim Nordvedt

01:05 Security Origin Story

02:36 The Commodore 64: A Forgotten Connection to Tech

03:35 The Classroom Moment: Discovering Offensive Security

04:54 Collecting Certs and Networking Like Crazy

09:37 Reframing Imposter Syndrome: Skills are Never Wasted

10:34 Lessons as a Bike Mechanic: Translating Technical Value

14:31 Trying Out for the Synack Red Team (SRT)

15:29 Transitioning to Solutions Architecture (SA)

18:40 Building Tools: Automating Attack Surface Discovery (ASD)

21:48 Proactive Defense: Providing Value to Customers

25:14 Career Advice: Fall in Love with Learning

25:39 Upskill for the Future: AI and Agentic Red Teaming

26:43 Closing Thoughts

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In this episode of WE'RE IN, host Josh Mason sits down with Teri Green, VP of Technology at Elevate and CIO/CISO at Light Technology Solutions.

Teri breaks down her proprietary TEST Framework (Touch, Execute, Store, Trust)-a practical toolset for CISOs to evaluate AI risk beyond simple vulnerabilities. They discuss why humans remain the greatest vector in the age of AI, how to teach digital citizenship to the next generation, and why the basics of security still apply even as we move toward a quantum future.

Timestamps:

[00:00] Welcome, meet Teri Green

[00:43] Cybersecurity Origin Story

[01:44] Degrees and Certifications

[02:34] Career Path and Leadership

[03:28] TEST AI Risk Framework

[05:30] AI Trust and Human Factor

[06:53] Teaching AI Ethics to Kids

[08:34] Governance Outpaced by AI

[09:42] Upcoming Talks and Takeaways

[12:37] Learning AI and Plain Language

[16:17] AI Already in Your Org

[18:13] Where to Follow Teri

[18:58] Closing and Thanks

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In this episode of WE’RE IN, Josh Mason sits down with Sayaan Alam, a Level 5 Synack Red Team (SRT) member who started his hacking journey at 14 years old. Sayaan shares his story of how he became the second-youngest researcher onboarded to the SRT and how he climbed the ranks to become recognized on the Synack Acropolis.

Timestamps:

00:54 Meet Sayaan: Starting Bug Bounties at 14

01:33 Joining the Synack Red Team (SRT)

03:18 SRT Onboarding Process

04:41 Climbing the Tiers: From Level 1 to Level 5

05:42 Why Synack is Different from Other Platforms

06:30 Improving Professional Pentesting Skills

06:58 Finding Patterns in Client Architectures

08:32 The AI Chatbot Vulnerability: SSRF Case Study

10:57 Remediation Advice for AI File Handling

11:58 Trends in AI Chatbot Security & Stored XSS

13:12 Thoughts on Sara: The Synack Autonomous Red Agent

14:29 How to Connect with Sayaan

15:07 Outro and Closing Remarks

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This conversation explores how AI is transforming the offensive security landscape, focusing on the rise of AI-driven vulnerabilities, the evolution of pen testing, and the integration of human and AI efforts in cybersecurity. The discussion highlights the importance of adapting to new threats and the role of Synack's Autonomous Red Agent in enhancing vulnerability detection and remediation processes.

Timestamps

04:51

Traditional vs. Modern Pen Testing Approaches

07:55

The Role of Human Analysts in AI-Driven Security

10:57

Introducing Sara Pentest: A New Era in Testing

13:16

Executing a Sara Pentest: A Step-by-Step Guide

20:13

Real-Time Insights from Sara Pentest

23:20

Technical Difficulties and Collaboration

23:25

Exploring Pen Test Engagements

27:00

Successful Pen Test Outcomes and Future Implications

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Synack Red Team member Bloodtyper reveals his journey from the DMZ to discovering critical AI prompt injection vulnerabilities. Learn how he creates bug bounty reports that get accepted, as well as other golden nuggets of advice to learn and grow your penetration testing skills.

CHAPTERS:

0:00 Introduction

01:03 Military Origins & The DMZ

01:58 Hacker Origin Story

04:06 Transitioning from Infantry to Tech

07:22 Joining the Synack Red Team (SRT)

08:04 Learning with Hack The Box

09:52 Bug Bounty Reporting Strategy

12:14 Synack Vuln Ops

16:03 Advice for New Pentesters

18:44 AI Prompt Injection Deep Dive

21:35 Retesting & Patch Verification

23:25 How to Improve Patching

26:02 Advice to Learn Cyber Security

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Adam Logue, Independent Security Researcher and Synack Red Teamer, discusses his experiences with responsible disclosure and bug bounty programs, and provides a fascinating technical deep dive into a vulnerability he found in Microsoft 365 Copilot during a client-facing engagement.

Timestamps:

00:49 - Adam's background with responsible disclosure and bug bounty programs

04:33 - Description of M365 vulnerability

12:34 - Demo of the vulnerability

17:53 - How to pentest AI

20:45 - Getting started in pentesting

23:07 - Benefits of hacking with Synack

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