Preparing for the Global OSINT Search Party CTF at DEF CON 34

This Search Party will be a hybrid event, meaning we will be on site in the OSINT4Good community space at DEF CON in Las Vegas AND remote.

• Hybrid Event Details & DEF CON Registration
• L100: Search Party Basics Webinar
• L150: Case Walkthrough
• Becoming a Coach
• Student Discounts
• Scoring System Changes
• Special Thanks to Our Lunch Sponsors

Hybrid Event Details & DEF CON Registration

This Search Party will be a hybrid event—meaning we will be on site at our community space at DEF CON in Las Vegas AND remote.

• On-Site DEF CON Attendees: You can participate free of charge. Come visit our community space anytime before the event starts on Saturday to grab the registration discount code for free entry. We have 250 tickets available for our DEF CON attendees. We will have community space available if you want to work on site, but you are free to set up anywhere. We will also have a dedicated escalation and tech support table on site for in-person support.
• Remote Participants: We will support full remote registration as well, with 400 tickets available for sale starting July 18th. Ticket sales end 24 hours prior to the event start. Any unused tickets go into the DEF CON ticket pool. 
• Discord & Team Matching: Regardless of whether you participate in person or remotely, all participants should have a Discord login and join our dedicated server: www.tracelabs.org/discord. This is required for coach matching, team matching, and event updates. You can participate solo, but we always recommend competing as a team to get the most out of the experience!
• Event Support: We strongly recommend getting your account ready in advance. General support is available on Discord in the #get-support channel and via email at: ctf-support@tracelabs.org.

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L100: Search Party Basics Webinar

We will be hosting our L100: Search Party Basics Webinar twice prior to this event, each lead by Trace Labs Director Sarah Miller (scba).:

• Remote via Zoom on Saturday, August 1 from 10 AM to 11 AM PDT - register at https://www.tracelabs.org/tickets (all CTF ticket holders receive a discount)

• In-person at DEF CON on Friday, August 7 from 3:30 PM  – 4:30 PM PDT in the OSINT4Good Community space (free to attendees)

This webinar provides an overview of Trace Labs and CTF operations. While training is not required to compete, completing the webinar earns an L100 digital badge that stacks with our L150 and L200 badges.

L150: Case Walkthough

We will be hosting our L150: Case Walkthough “webinar” in-person at DEF CON, led by Trace Labs Reporting Team Leader Brent L (R-Naught)

• Saturday, August 8 from 10 AM to 11 AM in the OSINT4Good Community space (free to attendees) 

Participants will follow detailed case walkthroughs drawn from Trace Labs Search Party CTF events, highlighting how analysts:

• Pivot from initial clues across platforms and ecosystems
• Identify meaningful signals of activity
• Provide actionable intelligence

While training is not required to compete, completing the webinar earns an L150 digital badge that stacks with our L100 and L200 badges.

Becoming a Coach

All past CTF participants are invited to level up and become CTF coaches! The process is outlined in our Coach Guideline.

Coach sign-ups are already underway, and invites have been sent to previous and newly trained coaches. If you did not receive yours, hop into our Discord and open a ticket in #get-support. All coaches must be active in Discord during the event to get real-time updates and communicate with their assigned teams.

Student Discounts

Students are eligible for discounted CTF tickets. To apply, interested students should email students@tracelabs.org, preferably before tickets go on sale. This discount is currently offered thanks to a generous donation from HeirRight.

Scoring System Changes

To ensure accurate reporting and fair play, please familiarize yourself with our scoring rules and category definitions prior to event day. You can review the full breakdown and guidelines in the Trace Labs Scoring System Documentation.

Special Thanks to Our Lunch Sponsors

We want to give a massive shoutout and thank you to our lunch sponsors for keeping coaches and on-site staff volunteers fueled:

• UserSearch – [The leading OSINT platform offering a centralised investigation hub with native AI integration.]
• SockPuppet (double sponsor!) – [SockPuppet delivers secure, on-demand digital identities purpose-built for online investigations.] Also, we heard there might be actually socks on-site!

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