Families store voice, photos, and life stories on Aeterna. That trust is the whole product—and it only holds if the platform is hardened by people who probe it honestly and report what they find.

Today we are naming that community: the Aeterna Guardians Circle, the recognition layer of our Vulnerability Disclosure Program.

If you have already reported a vulnerability and landed in our Security Hall of Fame, you are in. If you have not yet, here is what changes—and what you receive when your report is accepted.

Part of the VDP, not a separate club

The Guardians Circle is not a second program. It is how we honor everyone who participates in the VDP responsibly.

Our rules stay the same:

• Target: staging.helloaeterna.com only—never production.
• Identify yourself: send X-Aeterna-VDP: <Your-Handle> on automated traffic.
• Throttle: stay under 5 requests/second; respect test accounts, not real users.
• Report to: [email protected]

When we confirm a valid, code-affecting finding, you are automatically added to the Guardians Circle. No extra signup. No points ledger. One good report, full membership.

What every Guardian receives

1. Exclusive mailing list

Researchers are enrolled in a private Guardians Circle list the moment their report is accepted. It is not marketing spam—it is a direct channel for VDP updates, staging changes worth retesting, and early word on how we are strengthening the vault. Think of it as sitting one row closer to the team that ships the fixes you helped inspire.

2. NFC Security Sticker

We still mail the exclusive Aeterna NFC Security Sticker—a physical badge you can tap to open your permanent researcher profile at helloaeterna.com/vdp/your-handle. Show it on a laptop, stick it on a conference badge, let it start the conversation: I helped secure a legacy platform.

3. Printed diploma

New for the Guardians Circle: a printed diploma commemorating your responsible disclosure. Not a PDF lost in downloads—a certificate you can frame, photograph for LinkedIn, or keep on a shelf next to the sticker. Your name, handle, and the year you earned Guardian status.

Together, the list, sticker, and diploma are our answer to cash bounties. Aeterna is built for generations, not quarters. We want recognition that lasts as long as the families we serve.

Why we name it now

Dozens of researchers have already pushed us forward—session authorization, upload paths, MIME validation, quota enforcement, disclosure hygiene. Their handles live in the Hall of Fame; their stickers are in the mail.

Naming the Guardians Circle makes the promise explicit for the next wave: if you help protect family memories, we treat you as a Guardian—publicly, privately, and in print.

Ready to report?

Read the full Security & VDP policy, create a staging test account, and send your findings to [email protected].

Valid report in. Guardian status out—mailing list, NFC sticker, diploma, and your line in the Hall of Fame.

Thank you to every researcher who has already stood guard for the families on Aeterna. The Circle is open.