In this video, we're talking about the Trace Labs O.S. search party CTF and how to prepare for it.
Now, this topic came up from one of the students in this course.
They actually asked a question if there's anything about preparing for it.
There wasn't.
I thought it was a fantastic idea.
So here we are and thank you for asking that question.
Now real quick.
I don't work for or otherwise affiliate with the Trace Labs team.
I do participate in their ctfs when I can, and I've done 11 so far and look forward to doing more with
them, but I do not actually work for an otherwise affiliate with the Trace Labs team.
Now real quick.
If you're not familiar with the trace search part, essentially it's a crowdsourced system for finding
missing people.
Trace lab team works with local law enforcement and comes up with these people that to help law enforcement
and the flags we're looking for are essentially clues that could potentially help law enforcement find
these people that are missing.
And hopefully reunite these missing people with their families and friends and whatnot.
Now there is an entry cost.
Cost I want to say ranges between 10 to $20 American.
I believe it's been a little while since I've signed up for one.
I think it's I think the last time I paid it was like ten, $15.
So very low entry fee to get in and you can have up to teams of four people.
Or you could do this solo.
Personally, I've done all the Trace Labs search parties solo.
However, if you do want to win prizes and I do recommend going with a team, you will obviously most
likely get more information that way.
And again, what we're doing is we're looking for these flags.
We're looking for certain information that is given in the Trace Labs CTF, things like social media
accounts, location dates, timestamps, whatnot, and ill list listed out when you when you actually
go through the CTF.
Now the information that you gather and gather by your team is given to a judge assigned to you and
to me how much information you throw out there.
It might take a little while for the judge to.
Take the information and validate it.
So be patient and you don't have to send one piece and wait for it to get validate.
You can start sending all the information you have and eventually all that will get evaluated verified.
And then you'll either get credit for it.
You won't get credit if you don't, they'll actually tell you why.
So pay attention to flags that are denied and why they were denied, and badges and warrants can be
given for the winners.
And for more information, go to wbez.org.
For slash initiatives.
Forward slash search party.
Now, certain recommendations for pay attention to the rules of CTF.
Now before the CTF starts.
They do have a briefing video.
I strongly encourage you whether you've never taken a CTF before or even if you have taken the CTF before,
I think it's always a good idea to jump into that that.
Preparation video they do.
You're probably going to hear information that you heard before, but it's always a good refresher,
and there might be new information that you might need or want to know.
And these cases are real people, so please be respectful of that and keep that in mind.
Prepare yourself mentally.
So some of these cases may strike a nerve with some people.
We're dealing with people that are missing from all different reasons.
A person may intentionally run away.
They they may have been kidnapped.
It could be due to stress or mental illness or medical conditions.
It varies quite a bit.
And.
As you're searching these things, you it it you might find things that relate to either you or people
in your life or whatnot and that that might.
You know, get you emotionally.
So try to prepare yourself for this.
And as they say in the Trace Labs briefings, that these searches can be emotionally draining.
So try prepare for that.
Take breaks if you need to take breaks, it is on a time limit.
But again, your your personal mental and health and wellbeing is important too.
So if you've got to take a break, you know it's worth taking that break.
Get a team together and determine roles ahead of time.
I do recommend teams if you really want to score high on this.
Uh, teams obviously, again, could actually find a lot more information normally than one person.
But again, determine the rules ahead of time.
Figure out who's going to be doing what.
Like team member A might be in charge of social media, team member B might be in charge of doing reverse
image searches and whatnot and so on and so forth.
So kind of keep those rolls ahead.
That way things aren't overlapping if it's not necessary.
Now, the ctfs don't always take place in the same country.
I've done some in United States, some have taken place in Australia and over in Europe and whatnot.
So you do want to keep that in mind.
The missing people vary in age, careers, conditions, etcetera.
They could be again, they could be runaway mental problems, potential kidnapping, etcetera.
So.
Not everyone is going to have the same internet footprint.
Some younger people are probably going to have more social media presence than someone, say, in their
70s or 80s.
So you do want to keep that in mind, and you're going to have to adjust your investigation accordingly.
Now, you're not going to just be assigned one person.
You'll actually have a.
Several different people that you could select from.
I want to say it's usually about five to maybe seven people or so that you can, that you can kind of
select through.
You can bounce between them and start as you do your investigation.
So if you're having a really hard time with one person pulling information up, you may want to switch
to someone else.
And again depending on.
Who you're actually investing in is going to depend on their internet footprint.
Other recommendations are prepared.
Your VM makes sure it is up to date and makes sure your VM is clean.
It should be a new VM, not a used one to make sure your information and findings are clean.
Familiar yourself with yourself with your tools.
Make sure you have whatever tools that you think you're going to need for the various regions.
Make sure your tools are up to date and your resources are still valid and working because things do
move quickly, especially with tools.
When it comes to Osint, things that work today may not work tomorrow.
So again, make sure they're updated.
Make sure that they're working properly, both tools and resources that you're using.
Make sure everyone on your team is familiar and comfortable with their roles.
Last thing you want is for people to have issues or argue about not wanting to be in the roles that
they're in, for whatever reason.
Make sure to keep in communication with your team.
Don't argue with a judge that's assigned to you unless there is a legitimate problem, in which case
you should be able to escalate that.
But in general, if you're trying to argue with a judge about, well, you should have took this flag.
Probably not going to go anywhere.
The judges are.
From my understanding, pretty well trained in what what is and isn't accepted.
And be flexible in your searches and investigations.
Information available again will vary from person to person, so do keep that in mind.
And finally, good luck in your searches.
Again, I think this is a wonderful, wonderful initiative that Trace Labs has.
I've been really happy to be able to participate in it, and I hope that you participate in it.
Help out to help out law enforcement, help these families and friends that are missing people and try
to get people back home safely.
Thank you for watching.
I'll see you next video.