Terms and Conditions

Top-Hat-Sec, LLC (hereafter mentioned as Top-Hat-Sec, LLC, Top Hat Sec, THS, Top-Hat-Sec, LLC, Top Hat Sec, LLC or any variant of said name) Terms and Conditions

Please note, we do our best when it comes to translating in other languages, however we are not responsible for miscommunications that may happen when any part of our site or its contents are translated into a language other than American English. If you have a question or concern about what you are reading (in American English or otherwise), please feel free to contact us with the question or concern.

Summary: These are the terms and conditions for Top Hat Sec, not to be confused with the Privacy Policy (found here). This is what is termed as “covering our arse.” The entire thing could probably be summed up in two sentences “Don’t do anything illegal or stupid.” and “Take responsibility for your own actions.” But that might be considered “offensive” or “unclear” to someone…

So here you go, just to make it clear…

            By accessing and posting on the forum, you accept and agree to be bound by rules of the forum. In addition, when using the forum, you shall be subject to any posted guidelines or rules applicable to such services. Any participation on the forum will constitute acceptance of this agreement. If you do not agree to abide by the above, do not use this service.

            By accessing any part of this website, and/or watching/reading/downloading any or part of course/module videos, digital content and pdfs, you accept and agree to be bound by the terms and provision of this agreement. In addition, when using any of the above mentioned content, you shall be subject to any posted guidelines or rules applicable to the laws. Any participation on the forum, or any participation in any page of the Top Hat Sec website, or any downloading or watching or listening to or reading content will constitute acceptance of this agreement. If you do not agree to abide by the above, do not use THS.

Please refer to our Privacy Policy (Other side of the page —>) if you have any questions or concerns about how we handle your privacy.

This site and its components are offered for informational and training purposes only; while we do try to ensure the information is accurate, technology will always continue to advance, which sometimes renders the contents of the THS site obsolete; this is the nature of the technology world. Furthermore, while something may be permissible in one country, province or state, Top-Hat-Sec, LLC is based in Virginia, in the United States of America, and therefore subject to the ever changing laws in this state. Each state, province and country vary in rules and we advise you to familiarize yourself not only with the laws of Virginia and the USA, but the laws in your own country and state. Top Hat Sec shall not be responsible or liable for misuse of information provided nor shall THS or its parties be responsible if you inadvertently or advertently break any form of law using information found on or in any part of THS.  This site shall not be responsible or liable for the accuracy, usefulness or availability of any information transmitted or made available via the site, and shall not be responsible or liable for any error or omissions in that information either. Some people consider hacking a controversial subject.  If you are one of those people, and feel offended by our website, please do not agree to the terms and conditions. Top Hat Sec strives to only be involved in Ethical or White Hat hacking, but we do not control the people who come to our site or participate in our training. Please see the revoking section for more information.

Furthermore, this web site most likely contains links to other sites; we do not guarantee any such links are safe; it is your responsibility to verify the links and/or sites before clicking on them. For example, if someone is talking about the latest malware and gives a link… it’s a safe bet that you should not click on that link unless you are in a sandbox trying to test the malware out or devise a way to detect it. If you have a concern about a link that another member put up please contact an admin so we can review your concern.

The Site and its original and current content, features, and functionality are owned by Top-Hat-Sec, LLC (Kimberly Drew aka GalaxyNinja), and are protected by international copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, and/or other intellectual property or proprietary rights laws.

Top Hat Sec does not currently use advertisers, as we rely on donations and our video series to fund the various costs involved in running a business (such as personal property taxes, filing fees, hosting services, etc.) however, if in the future we do advertise, we will make sure to only endorse products that fit THS values and will do our best to ensure the advertisers are aware and abide by the THS privacy policy. 

 The Top Hat Sec Store accepts both Pay Pal and credit cards. To pay with bitcoins, please contact us at [email protected], Alternatively, you can use the number below, however, the store will not process courses or items with this number; you will still have to contact us.

For all videos or items purchased, once you receive the username and password, or the downloadable link, your items will no longer be refundable. If you believe you purchased an item in error, please contact us at [email protected]

If you purchased a shippable item, your order can be cancelled up to the time we email the shipping information. Once the item is in transit, the order can no longer be cancelled or returned.

If you do need to return an item, you will receive a full reimbursement, minus shipping costs and restocking fees.

For items shipped inside of the United States of America, we will do our best to get the items purchased by you in a timely manner. Some delays may happen if a natural disaster happens and such delays are out of our hands. Some examples of natural disasters are blizzards, tornados, hurricanes, flooding, wildfires and the like. 

 For items shipped outside of the United States of America, there may be delays in your order. Once the postal service has transferred an item purchased/package shipped to the customs border of wherever your package is going, Top Hat Sec can no longer accept responsibility for when and if your item will arrive safely. THS has no control over third party shippers, nor do we have control over customs or postal services outside of the USA.

We will always try to ship your item the most responsible way possible, unless you indicate otherwise during ordering.

Please make sure you are aware of what can and can not be shipped to your country as Top Hat Sec will not assume responsibility if an item is denied at customs.

We have yet to have that happen, but there is always a first time!

At certain times, items such as shirts may be shipped by a third party vendor, such as a long time THS member in good standing who can order shirts cheaper than THS could. If this happens, it will be notated in the store. Purchasing such an item will act as an agreement that your name, shipping address, and possibly phone number and/or email,  may be given to that individual so they may ship your item.

If you have any questions or concerns about your order, please contact us at [email protected] so we may address that concern.

The items you purchase are yours alone. With the exception of gear (shirts, lanyards, pens etc), your purchase will be watermarked or digitally injected with your personal information to help protect us against digital piracy. If you do not agree to this, do not purchase the items!

The exceptions to this are immediate family members of the purchaser. You are allowed to share videos and pdfs with your immediate family members, however if a course comes with a certificate of completion or a certification after passing a test, the family member will need to purchase the test / certification to receive credit for the course. If you have any questions about this, please feel free to email us at the email address above.

If you have registered on the forum or another part of the site, we may revoke, suspend and or terminate your account and access thereof without notice, which may result in any information in your account to be destroyed. If we terminate your account, we may not be able to get your information back. An example of something that might cause termination would be if you tried to commit fraud, pentest any part of our site without permission, and/or deliberately input misinformation into a THS Wiki. These are only a few examples, and are not all inclusive.

It is on the burden of the revoked, suspended or terminated member/guest to prove your innocence in order to be reinstated. Top Hat Sec reserves the right to use our best judgement as to whether or not to reinstate you. Regardless of whether or not you have been terminated, suspended or the like, you still agree to hold Top-Hat-Sec, LLC blameless and uphold all of the rules and provisions stated herein.

Contests and Promotions:

            From time to time, THS may host various contests (such as a ctf or a knock box) or promotions (such as a spring sale).

 Participation in these surveys, contests or promotions is completely voluntary so the user has the choice whether to participate and disclose the information needed to participate in such events. Information requested may include contact information (such as name, shipping address, email, and/or phone number) and demographic information (such as zip code, age level, male, female, or other). Contact information will be used to notify the winners and award prizes. Survey information will be used for purposes of monitoring or improving the use and satisfaction of this site (including future contests).

Top Hat Sec, LLC reserves the right to change these terms and conditions from time to time as we see fit. Your continued use of the site and/or forum will signify acceptance on your part of any adjustment to these terms and conditions. If there are any significant changes made to the terms and conditions, we will announce that these changes have been made via our blog site and/or homepage and/or forum. Any significant changes to our terms and conditions will be posted 30 days prior to these changes taking place. You are therefore advised to re-read the terms and conditions on a regular basis. For changes relating to our privacy policy, please see the privacy policy document (Other side of page—>).

If you feel that this company is not abiding by its terms and conditions or its privacy policy, contact Top-Hat-Sec, LLC at [email protected] or [email protected]