Researcher Community

Earning a HackerOne 2025 Live Hacking Invite

HackerOne Community Team
live hacking event

We are so excited to bring you another year of HackerOne Live Hacking Events (LHEs). By focusing on collaboration, connection, and a custom delivery model - these power-packed engagements deliver months of value to a security program and provide extensive opportunities for security researchers, in mere weeks. 

HackerOne LHEs have grown into a flagship program thanks to our researchers' dedication, skill, and collaboration.  These events bring together our community and customers to uncover vulnerabilities, strengthen security, and make the internet safer for everyone. Their continued success is a testament to the power of collective expertise and innovation in cybersecurity.

There are multiple ways for hackers to qualify for LHE invitations, but keep in mind that these requirements must also be met:

  • A hacker should have no Code of Conduct Violations or active mediation investigations in the past 6 months brought on by a customer or HackerOne 

Note: HackerOne reserves the right to make case-by-case exceptions to CoC violations, depending on the severity and context of the issue.

  • A hacker cannot be located in a region under sanctions
  • Active participation in any invited events - lack of participation in previous events may affect future invitations
  • A hacker is expected to be consistent in showcasing positive behavior. 

Respect and professionalism will go a long way to continue to grow the LHE opportunities and ensure that all involved have a successful and positive experience. 

Please note that there are many, many researchers that qualify for each criteria under title and general context only. The more detailed threshold minimums for specific stats, as well as the ranking according to specific parameters provide a structured, transparent, and repeatable algorithm designed to ensure that all researchers given this opportunity are as successful as possible.

See our Solution Brief for more. 

Below is our invitation structure for 2025 Live Hacking Events:

2025 Live Hacking Events | Invitation Structure 

These numbers are approximate and can vary by event - all decisions are subject to HackerOne discretion

Every Live Hacking Event can have between 30-100+ researchers invited, depending on event, location, structure and participating programs. The exact number of hackers invited within each category below is based on factors such as:

  • Proficiency of skills required to be successful in alignment with scope
  • Location of event and/or capacity flexibility
  • Industry Conference alignment (E.g.: Defcon, Blackhat, etc.)
  • Number of participating customers
  • Restrictions or requirements for Customers (E.g: H1 Clear)
  • Any researchers not 18+ must provide written approval from a legal guardian to attend + have approved chaperone onsite provided to HackerOne.

ALL live hacking event invitations will be evaluated using the below criteria:

  • SIGNAL: > or = 4
  • REPUTATION: minimum of 1000 points
  • No Code of Conduct violations in the past 6 months* see above for further details
  • Professional interactions - with your peers, with HackerOne staff, and with the partnering program's team
  • No sanction-related concerns
  • Past Live Hacking Event activity/engagement
  • Event Scope/Skills Associated
To help provide the most opportunities to the most researchers, the invitations for events are fulfilled in the following order:
 
Up to 5 researchers
  • Customer selected/recommendation - researchers requested directly by the participating customer. The reasoning is at their discretion, and it may not be based on top performance!
Up to 10 researchers
  • Top Customer Program - a combination of customer top program hackers based on lifetime achievements. This list is prioritized based on lifetime earnings + higher volume of high/critical reports.
Up to 20 researchers
  • Past Live Hacking Top Performers - researchers who have been top performers at most recent live hacking events, prioritized by total rewards. This may also include those who have received MVH and first to third-place awards.
Note: we will pick up to 20 of the top researchers from a combined list of the past 3 live hacking events ordered by rewards. Each event rewards are considered separately.
Up to 10 researchers
  • HackerOne Platform Performers in Last 180 days - the list is prioritized with a higher percentage of Crit/High total valid reports + total rewards in the last 180 days.
Up to 10 researchers
  • Community Choice - researchers selected by the HackerOne Community team who have shown positive engagement, criticality, and consistency within HackerOne's programs.
Up to 3 researchers
  • New to Live Hacking Events - researchers who have shown criticality, consistency, and contributed to the community across HackerOne platform but have not participated in a live hacking event previously. Hackers must meet below criteria:
  • > or = 5000 reputation
Heavy Hitters - up to 5 researchers
  • Researchers with more than 10K reputation, ordered by rewards in the last 180D. This researcher shows impact and adds value to our platform in a consistent manner, but might not qualify in other criteria. This criteria slot is used to recognize the ongoing talent in our platform that constantly provides value to our customers.
Ambassador World Cup Top Performers - Up to 4 researchers
  • Up to 20 top performing hackers of the tournament will win an invite to a future Live Hacking Event.
     
Note: HackerOne reserves the right to select which Live Hacking Event each hacker will receive an invite to, based on the best potential fit according to the customer program participating, assets in scope, skills requirement, and any other relevant requirements.
Up to 10 researchers
  • Top Skillset - researchers selected based on top skills needed that align with the partnering customer's selected event scope. For example, if the scope includes hardware assets, hardware hackers will be prioritized.
Note: These criteria can also include hackers who performed very well in customers' previous live hacking events.
Up to 3 researchers
  • H1 Elite - H1 Elite Poster Winner researchers who have shown outstanding performance across their journey at HackerOne. This criteria slot is used to recognize the HackerOne Elite researchers who provided historical value in our platform. Priority will be given to Elite Members that are currently active on the platform
Up to 10 researchers
  • Plus One Nominations - researchers nominated by invited researchers. All nominations will be evaluated based on platform performance and alignment with events' scope or goals. Additional notes:
  • Plus One Nominated researchers will be required to fund their own travel and accommodations to live hacking event (but are welcome to room share with the hacker who nominated them if both agree!).
  • Multiple nominations to the same researcher does NOT increase priority to ensure consistency and fair review
  • All researchers are responsible for their nomination should they receive an invitation to the event (this includes participation, professionalism, etc.)
Up to 5 researchers
  • Geolocation-Based Hackers - Hackers invited based on the region of the event, geolocations for the assets in scope/accessibility reasons, or in alignment with Community recruitment or Customer's program recruitment goals.
     
Note: HackerOne does NOT cover hotel/travel costs for geo-based hackers unless specified during the event. Additionally, depending on the location where the event is being hosted, we might not have any hackers from this category.

Declining an Invite

If you do not currently have the bandwidth to participate fully or have concerns about travel for an event, please let us know immediately. Feel free to decline the invitation or RSVP to participate virtually. 

Declining an invitation to participate will not affect any future invitations. The health of our hackers is always a priority for HackerOne, and as such, we empower you to make the best decision for your physical and mental health.

If you have declined an invitation, the community team will do their best to ensure that you receive a future invitation that best aligns with your skillset, in the same calendar year. However, we cannot promise that the invite will be sent during the next event. Please understand that declining an invitation does not allow you to nominate another hacker to participate in your place.

HackerOne strives to embody our company values across all our programs and provide clarity  on how our community members can qualify for an LHE. Because of that, we regularly review our invitation methodology  within the context of researcher and customer feedback, as well as our own experience during events.  

As always, HackerOne is committed to continuous improvement, and we will refine the invitation framework accordingly. We sincerely appreciate everyone who has helped shape the remarkable success of HackerOne’s LHE program!

Thank you, 
HackerOne Community Team