Nataly Sheinin
November 16, 2025
Trace Labs runs a specialized kind of CTF, one built not for breaking systems, but for gathering open-source intelligence on missing persons. The goal is simple and heavy at the same time: crowdsource actionable intel, share it with law enforcement, and push real investigations forward. Each event runs for four intense hours, with participants scattered across the world, usually working remotely.
Yesterday’s Search Party was a milestone for us. Our Discord community of OSINTers had been looking forward to this one since spring, and behind-the-scenes it was powered by an entirely new group of volunteers. For many of us, it was our first time running the operations and logistics for our global CTF event.
Many volunteers, coaches, and countless server-hours came together to make this event work. As an engineering team doing this the first time, nothing prepares you for that moment when people start using your platform. You start nervously watching the server logs, monitoring the graphs for memory and CPU, watching your system alert channels, and more. This CTF, our servers were happy. Over 3,000 submissions, a real-time scoreboard, and a live feed of submissions all ran smoothly. Backend RAM topped out at around 1.25 GB, CPU only spiked once to 50%, and the frontend barely broke a sweat. For a first-run infrastructure, that’s a victory lap.
Because we’re a nonprofit, none of this would be possible without partners who believe in the mission. Their support subsidizes our compute, image registries, CI/CD pipelines, security tooling, and authentication backbone that let a small team run a global event with real-world stakes.
A heartfelt thank you to DigitalOcean, Auth0, and GitHub for powering the work that matters.
