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Community Code of Conduct

Last updated: 2026-03-12

In Summary
  • Be driven by curiosity: Be curious and passionate about everything. This curiosity sparks discussion and drives the community.
  • Be excellent to each other: All community members and Specters are expected to interact with respect and consideration. When disagreements occur, listen to each other’s perspectives with an open mind.
  • Right place, right time: To keep discussions organized and prevent overcrowding of a single channel, post, or issue, find the appropriate place for your question or discussion.
  • Keep it legit: Drive excitement and curiosity through genuine, open discussion—not advertising or marketing.
Our Pledge

We pledge to make our community welcoming, safe, and equitable for all.

We are committed to fostering an environment that respects and promotes the dignity, rights, and contributions of all individuals, regardless of characteristics including race, ethnicity, caste, color, age, physical characteristics, neurodiversity, disability, sex or gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, language, philosophy or religion, national or social origin, socio-economic position, level of education, or other status. The same privileges of participation are extended to everyone who participates in good faith and in accordance with this Covenant.

Our goal is to advance the industry’s understanding of adversary tradecraft in all of its capabilities. Our goal is education. Abuse is always condemned.

Encouraged Behaviors

While acknowledging differences in social norms, we all strive to meet our community’s expectations for positive behavior. We also understand that our words and actions may be interpreted differently than we intend based on culture, background, or native language.

With these considerations in mind, we agree to behave mindfully toward each other and act in ways that center our shared values, including:

  • Respecting the purpose of our community, our activities, and our ways of gathering.
  • Engaging kindly and honestly with others.
  • Respecting different viewpoints and experiences.
  • Taking responsibility for our actions and contributions.
  • Gracefully giving and accepting constructive feedback.
  • Committing to repairing harm when it occurs.
  • Behaving in other ways that promote and sustain the well-being of our community.
Restricted Behaviors

We agree to restrict the following behaviors in our community. Instances, threats, or promotion of these behaviors are violations of this Code of Conduct.

  • Harassment: Violating explicitly expressed boundaries or engaging in unnecessary personal attention after a clear request to stop.
  • Character attacks: Making insulting, demeaning, or pejorative comments directed at a community member or group of people.
  • Stereotyping or discrimination: Characterizing anyone’s personality or behavior based on immutable identities or traits.
  • Sexualization: Behaving in a way that would generally be considered inappropriately intimate in the context or purpose of the community.
  • Violating confidentiality: Sharing or acting on someone’s personal or private information without their permission.
  • Endangerment: Causing, encouraging, or threatening violence or other harm toward any person or group.
  • Behaviors that threaten community well-being.
  • Non-constructive engagement: Asking simple questions without research or with possible malicious intent (for example: “How to hack X”, “Help me hack into…”).
  • Abuse of tools and knowledge: Abuse is strictly prohibited and will not be tolerated. Knowledge is shared for educational purposes and should only be used in authorized environments.
Other Restrictions
  • Misleading identity: Impersonating someone else or pretending to be someone else to evade enforcement actions.
  • Failing to credit sources: Not properly crediting the sources of content you contribute.
  • Promotional materials: Sharing marketing or other commercial content outside the norms of the community.
  • Irresponsible communication: Failing to responsibly present content that includes, links to, or describes restricted behaviors.
  • Unauthorized usage of data: Personal information shared in the community may never be used without prior acknowledgement and explicit opt-in from the individual. This includes, but is not limited to, newsletter sign-ups or creating accounts on third-party systems.
Reporting an Issue

Tensions can occur between community members even when they are trying their best to collaborate. Not every conflict represents a Code of Conduct violation. This Code of Conduct reinforces encouraged behaviors and norms that help avoid conflicts and minimize harm.

When an incident does occur, it is important to report it promptly. To report a possible violation, contact the appropriate channel’s moderator or email community@specterops.io.

Community Moderators take reports of violations seriously and will make every effort to respond in a timely manner. They will investigate reports by reviewing messages, logs, recordings, or interviewing witnesses and participants.

Moderators will keep investigations and enforcement actions as transparent as possible while prioritizing safety and confidentiality. Enforcement actions are carried out privately with involved parties, though communication to the wider community may occur as part of a mutually agreed resolution.

Addressing and Repairing Harm

If Community Moderators determine that this Code of Conduct has been violated, the following enforcement ladder may be used to determine how best to repair harm. Depending on the severity of a violation, lower steps may be skipped.

Warning

Event: A violation involving a single incident or series of incidents.
Consequence: A private written warning from Community Moderators.
Repair: Examples include a private written apology, acknowledgement of responsibility, and seeking clarification on expectations.

Temporarily Limited Activities

Event: Repeated violations following a warning, or a first instance of a more serious violation.
Consequence: A written warning with a time-limited cooldown period. The cooldown may apply to certain communication channels or interactions with particular members.
Repair: Examples include issuing an apology, reflecting during the cooldown period, and re-entering community spaces thoughtfully afterward.

Temporary Suspension

Event: A pattern of repeated violations or a single serious violation.
Consequence: A written warning with conditions for return from suspension.
Repair: Respecting the spirit of the suspension, meeting return conditions, and reintegrating thoughtfully when the suspension is lifted.

Permanent Ban

Event: A pattern of repeated violations that previous steps have failed to resolve, or an extremely serious violation.
Consequence: Removal of access to all community spaces, tools, and communication channels.
Repair: No repair is possible in cases of this severity.

This ladder is intended as a guideline and does not limit the ability of Community Managers to exercise discretion in the best interests of the community.

Scope

This Code of Conduct applies within all community spaces and when individuals are officially representing the community in public or other spaces.

Examples include using an official email address, posting via official social media accounts, or acting as an appointed representative at online or offline events.

Attribution

This Code of Conduct is adapted from the Contributor Covenant, version 3.0, available at:
https://www.contributor-covenant.org/version/3/0/

Contributor Covenant is stewarded by the Organization for Ethical Source and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Additional resources:

The enforcement ladder was inspired by the work of Mozilla’s Code of Conduct team.