The National missing persons hackathon has returned for 2024

Join other ethical hackers and investigators to gather open source intelligence and find new leads on real missing person cases.

How it works Get involved

How it works

Non-theoretical capture the flag (CTP) competition on a virtual platform /

Up to 12 real missing person cases selected by the National Missing Persons Coordination Centre /

Participants source intelligence and potential leads during the six-hour event /

Participants can be involved as individuals or groups of up to 4 members /

Leads are submitted to a panel of judges who verify the information and allocate points /

Information submitted can include recent photos, last known locations, social media accounts etc /

The individual/team which has accumulated the most amount of points will be declared the competition winner /

All leads will be handed to the Australian Federal Police and National Missing Persons Coordination Centre after the completion of the event /

"This is where innovation brings social value, creating an event which is unlike any other hackathon or capture the flag (CTF) challenge. Theoretical concepts are put aside so participants can operate in real time, with real (open source) data for real human impact."

Linda Cavanagh
National Network Lead
@AustCyber

"By involving the community, and in this case hackers, into the search for missing persons, we hope to solve more long-term missing person cases in a way that police could not do alone."

Debbie Platz
Assistant Commissioner
Australian Federal Police

REAL CASES.

REAL DATA.

REAL TIME.