Trace OSINT CTF: Fifteen Hours of Passive Investigation
Trace has officially wrapped.
Over the course of fifteen hours, more than 500 participants from 15+ countries took on fifteen OSINT challenges built around one simple rule: everything had to be solved through passive reconnaissance.
No scanning, no active probing, and no direct interaction with the target. Participants had to rely entirely on information that was already public, following clues, connecting details, and knowing where to look.
The passive-only rule was central to that experience. OSINT is not about how quickly you can interact with a target. It is about understanding what is already available and being able to turn seemingly unrelated pieces of public information into something meaningful. Trace was built to test exactly that.
With more than 500 participants from 15+ countries, the event brought together investigators across different regions and time zones, all working under the same constraints and chasing the same fifteen challenges.
Trace ran on Athena, the CTF platform built by AstraQ Cyber Defence. Hosting our own community event on Athena gave us an opportunity to put the platform through a real-world test with hundreds of participants, staggered challenge releases, and activity spread across fifteen hours. It also gave us valuable insight into how the platform performs under real event conditions and where we can continue improving it for future organizers and participants.
By the time the final challenge closed, Trace had completed its fifteen-hour run with 500+ solo participants from 15+ countries taking part.
Fifteen challenges. Fifteen hours. One rule.
Everything was already out there. You just had to find it.
Thank you to everyone who participated, shared the event, solved challenges, and made Trace what it was.
Want to run a CTF like this on your own platform?
Try Athena free on the Hobby plan, or book a demo to talk through your event.
