Systems Distilled
systemsdistilled.com
Ideas, research, and work by James Shank.
James Shank examines complicated systems to find the structure and the incentives that drive them, and then turns what he finds into models and strategies that people can use.
Now
James spoke at CanSecWest 2026 in Vancouver on 30 September 2026. His talk, Red Teams and Real Attacks: Misalignment due to Skewed Incentives, draws on research he did with Ben Nahorney.
Featured work
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Framework · 24 September 2026
A guide to thinking about AI security risk
Expel · Author · ↗ expel.com
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Talk · 23 April 2026
How NOT to be Your Adversary's Best Friend - Doing What Matters...
FIRST CTI 2026, Munich · Speaker, with Brian Hein · ↗ first.org
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Publication · 27 January 2021
Team Cymru · Author · ↗ team-cymru.com
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Research · 8 March 2022
Record breaking DDoS Potential Discovered: CVE-2022-26143
Team Cymru · Co-author · ↗ team-cymru.com
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Publication · 17 June 2025
Operation Endgame: Do Takedowns & Arrests Matter?
Dark Reading · Author · ↗ darkreading.com
Information security is a war, not a battle.
Projects
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Project · 2024 to 2025
Facilitator · Closed
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Project · 2021 to now
Chairperson of the Board · ↗ internetfire.org
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Framework · 24 September 2026
Expel · Author · ↗ expel.com
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Project · 2026
Project manager · Funded by Acutis Ventures · By Dragos Ruiu and Jeff Nathan · ↗ wgtcp.net · ↗ GitHub
About James
James Shank is Director of Threat Operations at Expel and Chairperson of the Board of the Internet Fire Brigade Society. Before Expel, he held chief architect, engineering, and product roles at SpyCloud and Team Cymru. Read more about James.