Write for Us: Contribute to the SmartScanner Blog
Are you a cybersecurity professional, developer, security researcher, or technical writer with something useful to share?
We’re looking for contributors who can help security professionals, developers, DevOps teams, and website owners understand and improve web application security.
SmartScanner focuses on practical security testing and vulnerability detection for modern web applications and APIs. We want articles that go beyond generic cybersecurity advice and give readers knowledge they can use.
If you have hands-on experience, original research, a useful methodology, or a strong security perspective, we’d like to hear from you.
What We Publish
We welcome technically strong, educational articles covering topics such as:
- Web application security
- API security and testing
- Vulnerability assessment and penetration testing
- OWASP Top 10 and other common web vulnerabilities
- SQL injection, XSS, SSRF, CSRF, IDOR, and authentication vulnerabilities
- Secure coding and application security
- DAST, SAST, and security testing
- DevSecOps and security in development workflows
- Security testing of modern JavaScript applications and frameworks
- WordPress and CMS security
- Security headers, TLS/SSL, cookies, authentication, and authorization
- Vulnerability research and responsible disclosure
- CVEs and emerging web application threats
- Security tools, techniques, checklists, and methodologies
- Real-world security incidents and lessons learned
- Security testing for developers and engineering teams
We’re also open to well-researched topics that don’t fit neatly into these categories. If the subject is relevant to web or application security and offers something useful to our readers, pitch it.
Who We Want to Hear From
We’re particularly interested in contributors with first-hand knowledge and practical experience.
You might be:
- A penetration tester or ethical hacker
- A security engineer or application security professional
- A security researcher
- A software developer
- A DevSecOps or DevOps practitioner
- A security consultant
- A CTO, technical founder, or engineering leader
- A cybersecurity educator or technical writer
You don’t need to work for a large security company. Demonstrated expertise matters more than job title.
What Makes a Great Submission?
The strongest SmartScanner articles are:
Practical
Give readers something they can implement, test, or investigate.
Specific
Focus on a meaningful problem rather than covering a broad topic superficially.
Technically accurate
Security readers will notice hand-waving. Claims, examples, and recommendations should stand up to scrutiny.
Original
Bring your own experience, research, examples, analysis, or perspective.
Actionable
Where appropriate, include commands, code, configurations, testing techniques, checklists, screenshots, or other practical examples.
Readable
Technical writing doesn’t have to be difficult to follow. Use clear language, logical structure, and useful headings.
We’d rather publish a 900-word article that teaches something valuable than a 2,000-word article padded with generic information.
Original Content & AI Policy
All submissions must be original and written by the credited author.
We do not accept articles that are primarily generated by AI or mass-produced for SEO purposes.
We want contributions based on genuine expertise, research, experience, and analysis. Standard tools for spelling, grammar, proofreading, and editing are fine, but the underlying ideas, technical substance, and writing should come from the author.
Articles previously published elsewhere should not be submitted unless this has been agreed with us beforehand.
SEO & Promotional Links
Contributors and companies may want to build their online presence. That’s fine as long as the article remains useful to our readers.
Editorial links
Relevant references and supporting links are encouraged.
For example:
- OWASP
- NIST
- MITRE/CVE
- Official product or framework documentation
- Security advisories
- Original security research
- Academic papers
- Other authoritative sources
These links should genuinely support the article and are not charged.
Promotional links
Commercial or promotional links are handled separately.
Promotional links are $100 per link, subject to editorial approval.
We reserve the right to reject links that are irrelevant, excessive, misleading, or intended primarily to manipulate search rankings.
An article containing several commercial links is unlikely to be accepted simply because the links are paid.
No disguised advertising
We’re happy to work with businesses and cybersecurity companies, but the article must still provide genuine editorial value.
We don’t accept:
- Thin SEO articles created primarily for backlinks
- Keyword-stuffed content
- Articles stuffed with commercial links
- Promotional copy disguised as a technical tutorial
- AI-generated guest posts
- Rewritten versions of existing articles
- Generic “top 10 cybersecurity tips” content with little original insight
If the primary purpose of the article is to sell something or acquire backlinks, it probably isn’t a good fit for the SmartScanner blog.
Article Length
Our recommended article length is 500–1,500 words.
This isn’t a hard requirement. A focused technical article may be shorter, while a detailed tutorial or research-based guide may need more space.
Quality and usefulness matter more than word count.
Responsible Security Research
We welcome responsible discussion of vulnerabilities, exploits, proof-of-concepts, and security research.
Submissions must respect responsible disclosure practices and applicable laws.
When demonstrating vulnerabilities, use systems you own, intentionally vulnerable applications, local labs, or environments where you have explicit authorization to test.
Do not publish credentials, private information, or sensitive details that could unnecessarily put individuals or organizations at risk.
Where relevant, cite CVEs, vendor advisories, original research, or other authoritative sources.
Formatting Guidelines
Please make your article easy to read and navigate.
We generally recommend:
- A clear, descriptive title
- A concise introduction
- Logical H2 and H3 headings
- Short paragraphs
- Lists where appropriate
- Code examples for technical tutorials
- Screenshots or diagrams when they add genuine value
- A practical conclusion or key takeaways
Avoid unnecessary repetition, filler, excessive jargon, and keyword stuffing.
Author Bio & Photo
Please include the following with your submission:
Author name
Short bio: Approximately 50–100 words describing your background, experience, and areas of expertise.
Author photo: A clear, professional headshot.
You may also provide relevant professional or social profiles for your author bio.
Editorial Review
Every submission is reviewed by our editorial team.
We may make or request changes to:
- Improve clarity and structure
- Correct factual or technical issues
- Add or verify references
- Remove excessive promotional material
- Improve headlines and formatting
- Bring the article in line with our editorial standards
Submission does not guarantee publication.
We reserve the right to reject submissions that don’t meet our quality, originality, relevance, or editorial requirements.
Have Something Worth Sharing?
If you have practical security knowledge, original research, or a useful perspective that can help our readers build and secure better web applications, we’d like to hear from you.
Before submitting, ask yourself:
Will a security professional, developer, or website owner learn something genuinely useful from this article?
If the answer is yes, you’re probably on the right track.
Send us your article or pitch to [email protected] and tell us what you want to teach the SmartScanner community.