NetHacks

NetHacks is a series of hackathon-style events and related conferences that focus on networking, cybersecurity, and software development. Organized by community groups, universities, and industry partners, NetHacks operates as a decentralized set of events rather than a single global competition.

The NetHacks phenomenon began in the early 2010s as part of the broader hackathon movement. Since then, regional editions have grown in scale, with the leading events attracting hundreds of participants and collaborations across academia, startups, and established tech companies. The flagship edition is often hosted in urban tech hubs and includes workshops, talks, and security challenges.

Typical NetHacks events run 24 to 48 hours. Teams of three to five participants collaborate to design and implement projects that address a given theme, such as network scalability, encryption, or privacy-preserving data sharing. Mentors from sponsor organizations provide guidance, while judges evaluate based on criteria like technical difficulty, usability, impact, and ethics. Most editions emphasize responsible disclosure and adherence to a code of conduct.

NetHacks is credited with rapid prototyping, talent recruitment by sponsor companies, and the advancement of open-source tools and security research. Critics note uneven quality across regional editions and potential commercial bias in sponsorship.

See also NetHack, Hackathon.