Subvolts take Meta's Red Team X finds and exploits third-party bugs to protect Meta and the world. Jun 29, 2023 - Developers
- Learn about proactive security testing and how to secure third-party integrations.
- Business
- Understand Meta's approach to managing external security risks and vendor collaboration.
This episode provides a detailed look into a specialized security team within a major tech company, offering practical insights.
53: Offensive security at Meta's Red Team X
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From Subvolts
Summary and analysis by Subvolts editorial, AI-assisted.
Meta Tech Podcast episode 53 features Vlad I., founder of Meta's Red Team X, discussing offensive security. The team finds and exploits vulnerabilities in third-party products that could affect Meta. Vlad explains how they prioritize targets, work with vendors, and contribute to global security by ensuring fixes benefit everyone.
Meta has a special security team called Red Team X. They act like ethical hackers, finding weak spots in products made by other companies that could harm Meta. By finding these problems and working with the companies to fix them, they help make the internet safer for everyone.
This episode offers insight into Meta's proactive security strategy, focusing on external threats. It's for security professionals and anyone interested in how large tech companies protect themselves and contribute to broader digital safety. Listeners learn about Meta's unique approach to vulnerability discovery and vendor collaboration, relevant as AI systems increasingly become targets.
- HostPascal Harris
- GuestVlad I.Founder, Red Team X
- Episode Title: 53: Offensive security at Meta's Red Team X
- Show: Meta Tech Podcast
- Length: 42 minutes
- Guest: Vlad I., Founder of Red Team X
- Team Founded: 2020
Red Team X is a security team at Meta that is responsible for finding and exploiting vulnerabilities in third-party products that could impact Meta's own security. The team acts as a hybrid between a traditional red team, which focuses on probing their own organisation's systems and products for vulnerabilities, and an elite bug-hunting group.
The team was founded by Vlad I. in 2020 when the pandemic and the sudden shift to Work From Home challenged various previously-held assumptions about security.
In his discussion with Pascal, Vlad explains the roles of different security teams within Meta, how they go about prioritising the highest-impact targets to exploit and how they work with vendors to ensure not just Meta but the entire world benefits from the fixes produced.
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Links:
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The Diff episode about Velox: https://thediffpodcast.com/docs/episode-17
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Risky Business Podcast: https://risky.biz/
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RTX Blog: https://rtx.meta.security
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RTX Disclosures: https://rtx.meta.security/bugs
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RTX in WIRED: https://www.wired.com/story/facebook-red-team-x-vulnerabilities/
Timestamps:
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Intro 0:06
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Vlad Intro 1:55
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Red Teaming 2:43
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Staying up-to-date 6:34
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Different team colours 10:02
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Defence-in-depth 12:44
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Red Team X 15:57
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Hardware v Software 19:43
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Focus areas 21:29
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Prioritising requests 22:44
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Notable RTX Disclosures 26:05
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Vulnerability disclosure policy 28:52
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Getting into offensive security 38:48
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Outro 40:51
- Red team
- Vlad I.
- A security team that probes its own organization's systems for weaknesses.
- Defence-in-depth
- A security strategy that uses multiple layers of defense to protect systems.
- A security strategy that uses multiple layers of defense to protect systems.
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Questions people ask
- What is Red Team X?
- Red Team X is a security team at Meta that finds and exploits vulnerabilities in third-party products that could impact Meta's security. It combines aspects of traditional red teaming with bug hunting.
- How does Red Team X help beyond Meta?
- The team works with vendors to ensure that fixes produced benefit not only Meta but also the wider world, contributing to overall digital security.
Page generated Oct 19, 2026. Summaries are Subvolts' own; the audio, artwork and notes belong to Meta.