Offensive Security Research Blog

Deep technical content from the AssureIT #_shellntel team.

Offensive security research, exploit development, adversary simulation and real-world operations experience from the penetration testers and red teamers on SynerComm’s AssureIT team.

● 12+ years of continuous research and blogging ● From 32-bit buffer overflows to AI-assisted attacks ● Built by practitioners for practitioners

Browse research posts Meet the A-Team roots

We break things, learn from the results, and share what matters with the offensive security community.

What you will find inside the blog

Expect hands-on research, real attack paths, working code samples and practical lessons from live penetration tests, red team operations, adversary simulations and security assessments.

Exploit development and vulnerability research

Adversary simulation and red team tradecraft

Cloud, identity, Microsoft 365 and Entra ID attacks

Malware, trojans and ransomware behaviors

AI and LLM attack surfaces and defenses

Research

Real world offensive techniques

We write about what we actually use against real environments.

Discovery and exploitation of new vulnerabilities
Complex network and application attack chains
Detection evasion and control bypass techniques
Defensive takeaways that help blue teams respond

Tools

Tools, code and open source

When we write tools or PoCs for an engagement or conference, we publish them whenever we can.

Red team utilities and automation scripts
Proof of concept exploits and payloads
Framework extensions, plugins and helpers
Code used in talks, workshops and CTFs

Community

Conference talks and threat trends

We share the research that powers our conference content.

Slides, demos and writeups from major events
Case studies from ransomware and incident simulations
Identity and cloud focused offensive techniques
Generative AI, LLM abuse and emerging threats

How the #_shellntel story began

Long before “adversary simulation” became a service offering, a small group of hackers inside SynerComm started publishing their research under a simple tag, #_shellntel.

"In 2014 an elite hacking unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from the Cube Farm to a mid-western underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as Security Professionals. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the A-Team."

Our original About page set the tone, part A-Team homage, part hacker folklore, entirely authentic to the way the team operated.

Original SynerComm A-Team

@jarsnah12 @slobtresix0 @w9hax @caseycammilleri @glitch1101 @njoyzrd @wmjc @curi0usJack

From 32 bit exploits to AI era attacks

Over more than a decade, the AssureIT team has evolved from breaking classic 32 bit operating systems and buffer overflows into a group that regularly emulates modern ransomware actors, cloud aware adversaries and AI assisted attackers.

Technology stacks changed, clients changed, the scale of our work changed. One thing did not.

We use real offensive techniques to improve real defenses, then we share what we learn with the community.

Validate defensive controls with realistic adversary behavior
Help defenders understand how attacks really develop and pivot
Advance offensive tradecraft and share practical techniques
Give back through blogs, tools, training and conference talks

Where the AssureIT #_shellntel team is today

Today we deliver advanced red team operations, full scope adversary simulations, deep technical penetration tests and strategic security assessments for organizations that want a realistic view of their risk. The blog captures that work in a form the community can reuse.

Interested in who writes our research? Meet the current contributors on our Authors page.

View #_shellntel Authors

Modern adversary simulation

End to end ransomware style attack paths
Cloud, identity and hybrid infrastructure targeting
Testing of logging, alerting and response capabilities

Penetration testing that informs research

Application, network and wireless assessments
Security architecture and control validation
Patterns that become blog posts, tools and conference material

AI and LLM focused offensive research

Abuse of AI powered features and assistants
Prompt injection, data exposure and model targeted attacks
Guidance to help organizations secure new AI driven services

Start exploring the #_shellntel archives

Browse years of research, tools and writeups, then follow along as we continue to track new platforms, new adversaries and new ways that attackers abuse technology.

Ready to dive in right now?

Visit blog.shellntel.com for the latest research, tools and archive of posts from the AssureIT #_shellntel team.

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