zemn.me
thomas@shadwell.im
phone on request

Thomas NJ Shadwell

selected experience

OpenAI
Member of Technical Staff, AppSec
Ongoing
3 years

Built out OpenAI's first Secure Development Lifecycle (SDLC); security for OAI products including ChatGPT Canvas (ChatGPT Apps, MCP Apps & Code Blocks), OpenAI Atlas, ChatGPT Lockdown Mode, Sign In With ChatGPT, ChatGPT Finance, GPT-4o, GPT5, Apple Intelligence and others. Work on Prompt Injection, Agentic Security & AI cyber risk.

Google
Senior Information Security Engineer, Google ISE hardening
3 years

Automated security mitigation, detection and refactoring using compiler technology (“langsec”), SDKs and DSLs (“hardening”) on TypeScript and Java. Google-wide mitigations for Log4Shell, XSS, deserialization attacks. Product security review and design, Google Ads (“FLOC”, “FLEDGE”), Google Cloud, Google's IDE (“Cider”). Research including critical disclosures such as CVE-2022-41034.

UK National Cyber Security Centre
Application Security Engineer
4 years

advisory position. Provided expertise to UK cyber advisory / defence group on Go and building security analysis systems. Launched world's first government-wide responsible disclosure program.

Twitch
Senior Application Security Engineer
6 years

first security engineer at the video game streaming website. Designed security architecture for flagship projects including bits, the Twitch API, extensions and Twitch's OIDC / OAuth AuthN/Z systems. Created and defined security relationships and processes. Built Go security static analysis system, security frameworks and libraries

Consultant
Software Engineer
2 years

Full stack freelance work building MVPs for London startups and wrangling data for hackathons.

Rewired State
Developer
3 years

Charity focused on teaching code literacy. Ran and participated in hackathons for good causes. Taught software engineering to young people.

selected highlights

GPT5

Security for OpenAI's next-generation model.

How to Hack Apple ID

Bypassing cutting-edge web security techniques to hack Apple ID.

ChatGPT Atlas

AI enabled web-browser.

Black Badge

The highest award given by the world's largest hacker convention. Awarded for the HackFortress CTF.

Designing AI agents to resist prompt injection

Blog post on how prompt injection attacks are becoming more like social engineering and how we can design AI agents to be more resistant to them.

Preventing URL-Based Data Exfiltration in Language-Model Agents

Paper describing the mechanism OpenAI products such as ChatGPT use to detect when an AI is communicating non-public data.

Full Steam Ahead: Remotely Executing Code in Modern Desktop Applications

Technical talk at offensive AppSec conference summarising through example research into hybrid web / desktop application security

Visual Studio Code: Remote Code Execution

Google research; exploit to remotely take over VSCode and any attached cloud systems. CVE-2022-41034, GHSA-pw56-c55x-cm9m

zemn.me
thomas@shadwell.im
phone on request

Thomas NJ Shadwell

selected experience

OpenAI
Member of Technical Staff, AppSec
Ongoing
3 years

Built out OpenAI's first Secure Development Lifecycle (SDLC); security for OAI products including ChatGPT Canvas (ChatGPT Apps, MCP Apps & Code Blocks), OpenAI Atlas, ChatGPT Lockdown Mode, Sign In With ChatGPT, ChatGPT Finance, GPT-4o, GPT5, Apple Intelligence and others. Work on Prompt Injection, Agentic Security & AI cyber risk.

Google
Senior Information Security Engineer, Google ISE hardening
3 years

Automated security mitigation, detection and refactoring using compiler technology (“langsec”), SDKs and DSLs (“hardening”) on TypeScript and Java. Google-wide mitigations for Log4Shell, XSS, deserialization attacks. Product security review and design, Google Ads (“FLOC”, “FLEDGE”), Google Cloud, Google's IDE (“Cider”). Research including critical disclosures such as CVE-2022-41034.

UK National Cyber Security Centre
Application Security Engineer
4 years

advisory position. Provided expertise to UK cyber advisory / defence group on Go and building security analysis systems. Launched world's first government-wide responsible disclosure program.

Twitch
Senior Application Security Engineer
6 years

first security engineer at the video game streaming website. Designed security architecture for flagship projects including bits, the Twitch API, extensions and Twitch's OIDC / OAuth AuthN/Z systems. Created and defined security relationships and processes. Built Go security static analysis system, security frameworks and libraries

Consultant
Software Engineer
2 years

Full stack freelance work building MVPs for London startups and wrangling data for hackathons.

Rewired State
Developer
3 years

Charity focused on teaching code literacy. Ran and participated in hackathons for good causes. Taught software engineering to young people.

writing

(2026) Designing AI agents to resist prompt injection. OpenAI.

Blog post on how prompt injection attacks are becoming more like social engineering and how we can design AI agents to be more resistant to them.

(2026) Introducing Lockdown Mode and Elevated Risk labels in ChatGPT. OpenAI.

Blog post summarising a fully sandboxed mode for chatgpt which mitigates impacts from Prompt Injection.

(2026) Preventing URL-Based Data Exfiltration in Language-Model Agents. OpenAI.

Paper describing the mechanism OpenAI products such as ChatGPT use to detect when an AI is communicating non-public data.

(2026) Keeping your data safe when an AI agent clicks a link. OpenAI.

Blog post summarising paper describing the mechanism OpenAI products such as ChatGPT use to detect when an AI is communicating non-public data.

(2025) Understanding prompt injections: a frontier security challenge. OpenAI.

Overview of OpenAI’s approach to prompt injection

(2019) If CORS is just a header, why don’t attackers just ignore it?

Article on common security misconceptions around CORS.

disclosures

(2022) Visual Studio Code: Remote Code Execution. GitHub Security Advisory.

Google research; exploit to remotely take over VSCode and any attached cloud systems. CVE-2022-41034, GHSA-pw56-c55x-cm9m

(2020) How to Hack Apple ID

Bypassing cutting-edge web security techniques to hack Apple ID.

(2019) Steam Remote Code Execution. HackerOne.

Vulnerability to remotely access Steam users' computers.

(2019) XSS in Steam React Chat Client. HackerOne.

Technical writeup & disclosure of a 1-click attack on the Steam, the world’s largest gaming platform, allowing remote access to users’ computers.

(2018) Übersicht Remote Code Execution, Spotify takeover

Article on an Übersicht form-post bug that let any website control users’ computers, and using Spotify's certificate design to explain why localhost web services are a weak application-security boundary.

(2018) Cross-site information assertion leak via Content Security Policy. HackerOne.

CSP1 information leak allowing efficient deanonymisation of internet users.

(2017) how to hack the uk tax system, i guess

Vulnerability allowing manipulation of UK tax system.

(2016) Buffalo NAS Remote Shutdown. Packet Storm.

Unauthorized remote shutdown of Buffalo-made network attached storage devices.

(2016) CVE-2016-2049. NVD.

Vulnerability in php-openid allowing an attacker to log in as any user.

(2014) When Security Generates Insecurity. zemn.me.

Exploit using content security policy 1 to steal data on the web

talks

(2026) Beyond Prompt Injection: Agentic AI Attacks in the Real World. DEF CON Singapore.

Talk with Adrian Spânu on the present and future of prompt injection. One of the most attended talks at the conference. Q&A lasted for 2 hours.

(2025) Panel Discussion: How Leading AI Platforms Approach Building Trustworthy Agents. AI Agent Security Summit SF.

Panel representing OpenAI at the AI Agent Security summit at the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco.

(2019) Full Steam Ahead: Remotely Executing Code in Modern Desktop Applications. Infiltrate.

Technical talk at offensive AppSec conference summarising through example research into hybrid web / desktop application security

(2018) I hacked video games like 300 times and all I got was this stupid talk. Game Dev Days.

Talk at Game Dev Days 2018 in Graz, Austria summarising some security concepts for game developers.

(2017) how to hack the uk tax system: the talk. OWASP.

Talk at OWASP about critical UK tax system flaw in obfuscated system and the 57 day trek to get it fixed.

coverage

(2023) Visual Studio Code is why I have (Workspace) Trust issues. DEF CON 31.

Talk at DEF CON by Sonar R&D including original research into VSCode security, reflecting on my own prior art CVE-2022-41034 (not my talk).

(2019) $7,500 Steam Weakness Let Hackers Take Remote Control Of Gamers' PCs. Forbes.

News coverage of Steam vulnerability allowing remote access to users’ computers.

(2017) 'Serious' security flaws found on official UK tax site. BBC News.

News post on manipulation of UK tax data.

(2016) 'Mr. Robot' Web Weaknesses Left Fans And USA Network Vulnerable, Warns Non-Fictional Hacker. Forbes.

Remote code execution in website for TV show “Mr. Robot” allowing attacker to control the website server.

(2016) Irony Alert: Hacker Finds Vulnerability In Mr Robot Website. Forbes.

Code execution vulnerability in website for TV show “Mr. Robot”.

(2016) Steam Patches Broken Crypto in Wake of Replay, Padding Oracle Attacks. Threatpost.

Padding oracle based attack allowing full decryption of traffic on Steam, the world’s largest gaming platform.

accolades

(2024) HackFortress Champions. ShmooCon.
(2023) Black Badge. DEF CON.

The highest award given by the world's largest hacker convention. Awarded for the HackFortress CTF.

(2023) HackFortress Champions. DEF CON.

Hybrid CTF / esports competition winners.

(2020) HackFortress Champions. DEF CON.
(2020) HackFortress Champions. ShmooCon.

Defended title for hybrid gaming CTF / esports competition.

(2019) National Cyber Security Centre 'Turing' challenge coin. UK National Cyber Security Centre.

Award for my work on UK government vulnerability disclosure policy and my responsible disclosure of vulnerabilities in the UK tax system.

(2019) HackFortress Champions. ShmooCon.

Hybrid CTF / esports competition winners.

(2018) HackFortress Champions. DEF CON.
(2018) 30 under 30, tech. Forbes.

For my work at Twitch, and on responsible disclosure.

(2015) Finder’s Fee. Valve Corporation.

Unique developer granted cosmetic item for the video game Team Fortress 2 granted for security issue allowing decryption of all Steam traffic.

(2015) Finder’s Fee. Valve Corporation.

Unique developer granted cosmetic item for the video game Team Fortress 2 granted for security issue disclosures allowing remote access to computers running the video game.

(2014) Sunbeams Ebenezer. Valve Corporation.

Unique developer granted cosmetic item for the video game Team Fortress 2 granted for security issues allowing movement millions of dollars of virtual items between arbitrary accounts via account takeover.

(2014) 5th place, Cambridge Chemistry Challenge (C₃L₆). University of Cambridge.
(2013) 7th place Cambridge Chemistry Challenge (C₃L₆). University of Cambridge.
(2011) Best example of Coding. Young Rewired State.

Prize from national hackathon for young people.

Kenwood House Gardens
51°34′17.0″N 0°10′9.3″W
zemnmez
Thomas Shadwell LogoA 2D pyramidal frustum (triangle with the top missing). In the center is an open eye, below the eye, a single tear.
Thomas NJ Shadwell