Legal
By using this site, you agree to be bound by the Official Terms & Conditions below. Usage of this website implies that you have read and understand the below disclaimers, as well, and agree to not abuse the security-related information presented on this site.
A Few Disclaimers to Note Up Front
The topics discussed on this website and blog involve issues pertaining to security, both physical and technological. These topics may involve, but are not limited to, educational and general information about U.S. national security policy, international security, or cybersecurity; adversarial tactics, techniques, and procedures; and elements of open source intelligence gathering. Be aware that if you misuse the research, tools, or techniques discussed here, you could get yourself in some real trouble with the law. So, please read the Official Terms & Conditions below and understand that the information provided on this site is for general informational and educational purposes only. For cybersecurity-related information, I also recommend reading the (ISC)² Code of Ethics, EC-Council’s Code of Ethics to make yourself aware of any relevant legal or ethical considerations involved with the cybersecurity field. For OSINT ethical considerations, I recommend reading this Medium article by Eoghan Sweeney of OSINT Essentials. It is your responsibility to act legally and morally with the information available on this site and elsewhere. I am not responsible for your usage of any information contained on this site, nor does the work presented here constitute any sort of professional service or advice. This entire website is simply here to showcase my own work.
The views expressed on this website do not represent the views of any organization that I have worked for in the past or will work for in the future.
A FEW MORE THINGS PERTAINING TO COPYRIGHT
All trademarks, logos, and brand names are the property of their respective owners. All company, product, and service names used on this website are for identification purposes only. Use of these names, trademarks, and brands does not imply endorsement. I try my best to, where possible, provide credit where it is due to any and all other authors, creators, and copyright holders in the content produced on this website. If you feel that, for any reason, I have failed to provide adequate credit to you, or you are a copyright holder and would like me to take something down, reach out to me directly at [email protected] and I will remedy the issue as soon as possible.
Update to Site Copyright – Effective September 2, 2024
This site was originally released under CC BY 4.0 from its inception in May 2022. Since a Creative Commons license is non-revocable, any original content acquired from this site (wonksecurity.com and its sub-domains) and this site only from May 2022 to September 1, 2024 remains bound by the above CC BY 4.0 license, as required. However, I am exercising my right to cease distributing content on this site under a Creative Commons license. Going forward, content posted to this site and this site only will be made available under an © All Rights Reserved by Cody Wilson copyright. This change is effective for all page content on this site and files acquired from this site beginning on September 2, 2024. The Official Terms & Conditions below formally reflect the new copyright for the site.
Note: Offsite/linked material produced by me (and in conjunction with any other party) remains bound by that site/platform’s copyright rules and are not, nor have they ever been, subject to Wonk Security’s copyright.
What is impacted?
Frankly, not much. Only two research papers were released directly on this site. The text content of each webpage was also originally covered by CC BY 4.0, as well as my CV from August 2023. These will all be updated at some point in the future, and those updates will be bound by the new copyright. The two papers will be reuploaded with the appropriate copyright watermark to reflect the change.
Why is this change happening?
The explosion of generative AI platforms comes at the cost of unparalleled intellectual property right infringement at a scale far exceeding the days of peer-to-peer file sharing and the waves of lawsuits by the record industry. In short, this change is to try to retain as many rights as I can in the face of rampant abuse and disregard of federal copyright law by countless AI companies in the hope that one day there is a legal reckoning and a price to be paid for such hubris. While much of the damage may already be done, this step is taken in conjunction with behind the scenes measures to prevent future scraping. At some point Wonk Security may be moved to a closed, crawler free platform to prevent further theft of my work, but that is a step for another day. In the eternal words of internet culture – this is why we can’t have nice things.
Official Terms & Conditions
The Terms and Conditions were last updated on June 18, 2026
1. Introduction
These Terms and conditions apply to this website and to the transactions related to our products and services. You may be bound by additional contracts related to your relationship with us or any products or services that you receive from us. If any provisions of the additional contracts conflict with any provisions of these Terms, the provisions of these additional contracts will control and prevail.
2. Binding
By registering with, accessing, or otherwise using this website, you hereby agree to be bound by these Terms and conditions set forth below. The mere use of this website implies the knowledge and acceptance of these Terms and conditions. In some particular cases, we can also ask you to explicitly agree.
3. Electronic communication
By using this website or communicating with us by electronic means, you agree and acknowledge that we may communicate with you electronically on our website or by sending an email to you, and you agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications that we provide to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement, including but not limited to the requirement that such communications should be in writing.
4. Intellectual property
We or our licensors own and control all of the copyright and other intellectual property rights in the website and the data, information, and other resources displayed by or accessible within the website.
4.1 All the rights are reserved
Unless specific content dictates otherwise, you are not granted a license or any other right under Copyright, Trademark, Patent, or other Intellectual Property Rights. This means that you will not use, copy, reproduce, perform, display, distribute, embed into any electronic medium, alter, reverse engineer, decompile, transfer, download, transmit, monetize, sell, market, or commercialize any resources on this website in any form, without our prior written permission, except and only insofar as otherwise stipulated in regulations of mandatory law (such as the right to quote).
5. Third-party property
Our website may include hyperlinks or other references to other party’s websites. We do not monitor or review the content of other party’s websites which are linked to from this website. Products or services offered by other websites shall be subject to the applicable Terms and Conditions of those third parties. Opinions expressed or material appearing on those websites are not necessarily shared or endorsed by us.
We will not be responsible for any privacy practices or content of these sites. You bear all risks associated with the use of these websites and any related third-party services. We will not accept any responsibility for any loss or damage in whatever manner, however caused, resulting from your disclosure to third parties of personal information.
6. Responsible use
By visiting our website, you agree to use it only for the purposes intended and as permitted by these Terms, any additional contracts with us, and applicable laws, regulations, and generally accepted online practices and industry guidelines. You must not use our website or services to use, publish or distribute any material which consists of (or is linked to) malicious computer software; use data collected from our website for any direct marketing activity, or conduct any systematic or automated data collection activities on or in relation to our website.
Engaging in any activity that causes, or may cause, damage to the website or that interferes with the performance, availability, or accessibility of the website is strictly prohibited.
7. Idea submission
Do not submit any ideas, inventions, works of authorship, or other information that can be considered your own intellectual property that you would like to present to us unless we have first signed an agreement regarding the intellectual property or a non-disclosure agreement. If you disclose it to us absent such written agreement, you grant to us a worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, store, adapt, publish, translate and distribute your content in any existing or future media.
8. Termination of use
We may, in our sole discretion, at any time modify or discontinue access to, temporarily or permanently, the website or any Service thereon. You agree that we will not be liable to you or any third party for any such modification, suspension or discontinuance of your access to, or use of, the website or any content that you may have shared on the website. You will not be entitled to any compensation or other payment, even if certain features, settings, and/or any Content you have contributed or have come to rely on, are permanently lost. You must not circumvent or bypass, or attempt to circumvent or bypass, any access restriction measures on our website.
9. Warranties and liability
Nothing in this section will limit or exclude any warranty implied by law that it would be unlawful to limit or to exclude. This website and all content on the website are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis and may include inaccuracies or typographical errors. We expressly disclaim all warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, as to the availability, accuracy, or completeness of the Content. We make no warranty that:
- this website or our content will meet your requirements;
- this website will be available on an uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free basis.
Nothing on this website constitutes or is meant to constitute, legal, financial or medical advice of any kind. If you require advice you should consult an appropriate professional.
The following provisions of this section will apply to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law and will not limit or exclude our liability in respect of any matter which it would be unlawful or illegal for us to limit or to exclude our liability. In no event will we be liable for any direct or indirect damages (including any damages for loss of profits or revenue, loss or corruption of data, software or database, or loss of or harm to property or data) incurred by you or any third party, arising from your access to, or use of, our website.
Except to the extent any additional contract expressly states otherwise, our maximum liability to you for all damages arising out of or related to the website or any products and services marketed or sold through the website, regardless of the form of legal action that imposes liability (whether in contract, equity, negligence, intended conduct, tort or otherwise) will be limited to the total price that you paid to us to purchase such products or services or use the website. Such limit will apply in the aggregate to all of your claims, actions and causes of action of every kind and nature.
10. Privacy
To access our website and/or services, you may be required to provide certain information about yourself as part of the registration process. You agree that any information you provide will always be accurate, correct, and up to date.
We have developed a policy to address any privacy concerns you may have. For more information, please see our Privacy Statement and our Cookie Policy.
11. Accessibility
We are committed to making the content we provide accessible to individuals with disabilities. If you have a disability and are unable to access any portion of our website due to your disability, we ask you to give us a notice including a detailed description of the issue you encountered. If the issue is readily identifiable and resolvable in accordance with industry-standard information technology tools and techniques we will promptly resolve it.
12. Export restrictions / Legal compliance
Access to the website from territories or countries where the Content or purchase of the products or Services sold on the website is illegal is prohibited. You may not use this website in violation of export laws and regulations of United States.
13. Assignment
You may not assign, transfer or sub-contract any of your rights and/or obligations under these Terms and conditions, in whole or in part, to any third party without our prior written consent. Any purported assignment in violation of this Section will be null and void.
14. Breaches of these Terms and conditions
Without prejudice to our other rights under these Terms and Conditions, if you breach these Terms and Conditions in any way, we may take such action as we deem appropriate to deal with the breach, including temporarily or permanently suspending your access to the website, contacting your internet service provider to request that they block your access to the website, and/or commence legal action against you.
15. Force majeure
Except for obligations to pay money hereunder, no delay, failure or omission by either party to carry out or observe any of its obligations hereunder will be deemed to be a breach of these Terms and conditions if and for as long as such delay, failure or omission arises from any cause beyond the reasonable control of that party.
16. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify, defend and hold us harmless, from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses and expenses, relating to your violation of these Terms and conditions, and applicable laws, including intellectual property rights and privacy rights. You will promptly reimburse us for our damages, losses, costs and expenses relating to or arising out of such claims.
17. Waiver
Failure to enforce any of the provisions set out in these Terms and Conditions and any Agreement, or failure to exercise any option to terminate, shall not be construed as waiver of such provisions and shall not affect the validity of these Terms and Conditions or of any Agreement or any part thereof, or the right thereafter to enforce each and every provision.
18. Language
These Terms and Conditions will be interpreted and construed exclusively in English. All notices and correspondence will be written exclusively in that language.
19. Entire agreement
These Terms and Conditions, together with our privacy statement and cookie policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Cody Wilson in relation to your use of this website.
20. Updating of these Terms and conditions
We may update these Terms and Conditions from time to time. It is your obligation to periodically check these Terms and Conditions for changes or updates. The date provided at the beginning of these Terms and Conditions is the latest revision date. Changes to these Terms and Conditions will become effective upon such changes being posted to this website. Your continued use of this website following the posting of changes or updates will be considered notice of your acceptance to abide by and be bound by these Terms and Conditions.
21. Choice of Law and Jurisdiction
These Terms and Conditions shall be governed by the laws of United States. Any disputes relating to these Terms and Conditions shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of United States. If any part or provision of these Terms and Conditions is found by a court or other authority to be invalid and/or unenforceable under applicable law, such part or provision will be modified, deleted and/or enforced to the maximum extent permissible so as to give effect to the intent of these Terms and Conditions. The other provisions will not be affected.
22. Contact information
This website is owned and operated by Cody Wilson.
You may contact us regarding these Terms and Conditions through our contact page.
23. Download
You can also download our Terms and Conditions as a PDF.