Project VIC
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersNeptune, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
Project VIC firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Project VIC
- Legal name
- Project VIC International Inc.
- Website
- https://projectvic.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Project VIC industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Digital Forensics Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132)
- SIC
- Services-Testing Laboratories (8734)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Digital Forensics & Malware Analysis (EDAOAIAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Identity Verification & Proofing (IDV, KYC, Biometrics) (HDADAAAF), Fraud Prevention & Identity Verification (IDV/KYC) (BPAMAEAI)
Keywords
Where Project VIC is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Neptune
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Project VIC business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Technology Licensing to Vendors: Project VIC licenses its technologies on an annual fee basis to vendor partners and companies contracted by law enforcement organizations to implement them.
- Grants: The organization receives grants from organizations such as Microsoft AI for Good and the End Violence Against Children Fund to develop and deploy technologies.
- Donations: Project VIC accepts donations through Give Lively platform to sustain operations and continue improving their technologies and training programs.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Annual | Free for Law Enforcement |
| Subscription | Annual | Annual License for Vendors |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Project VIC product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Project VIC International develops and licenses a technology ecosystem of hash-based intelligence (VICS Hashes, PhotoDNA), machine learning triage tools (VICSafer, VIC Point, Illuminate), and interoperability standards (VICS Data Model, CAC Ontology) used by law enforcement and digital forensics vendors to investigate child sexual exploitation. The organization provides these technologies at no cost to law enforcement and licenses them on an annual basis to technology vendors that embed them into commercial and open-source forensic tool suites.
Product overview
Project VIC International operates as a technology-focused nonprofit that provides an ecosystem of interconnected tools for law enforcement to investigate child sexual exploitation. The core portfolio includes the VICS Data Model (normalizing data across investigation tools), VICS Hashes (intelligence databases of known abuse material), PhotoDNA (Microsoft-licensed image fingerprinting), VICSafer (MITRE-licensed computer vision ML), VIC Point (NLP-based file path classifier), and Illuminate (image clustering for clue identification). The Crimes Against Children (CAC) Ontology provides semantic standardization across all products, while Katalyst enables countries to build new investigation programs. All technologies are free for law enforcement and integrated into 30+ commercial and open-source forensic tools by technology partners.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- VICS Data Model The Video Image Classification Standard (VICS) data model is the internationally accepted approach to normalizing data across tools, vendors, and services used in crimes-against-children investigations. It enables interoperability between investigation tools and exchange of VICS case data between partners. Since 2012, adopted by Canada, UK (CAID), US, Australia, and India.
- VICS Hashes Intelligence databases of observed child sexual abuse material maintained through international law enforcement partnerships. Law enforcement officers download hashes from country-specific VICS service portals and use them in validated tools to identify known materials in investigations, typically finding 30% or more of child abuse material in new cases.
- PhotoDNA Technology licensed worldwide from Microsoft for the crimes-against-children use case. Creates a digital signature or fingerprint of images that can be matched against a database of known child sexual assault images. Considers images with simple modifications (resizing, compression, contrast) as duplicates of originals.
- VICSafer Machine learning technology licensed from MITRE that analyzes images and videos to identify features such as age, gender, body parts, and actions that may indicate child abuse material. Available via no-cost license to law enforcement. Integrates with YOLOv3, YOLOv5, and YOLOv8 architectures and uses 23 detection classes.
- VIC Point Natural language processing file path classifier developed with Microsoft AI for Good grant. Predicts presence of child abuse material based on file naming and location conventions behavior, not traditional textual search. Details shared only with law enforcement and vendors under formal agreement.
- Illuminate Image analysis tool that helps investigators identify where clues in images come from by grouping similar images from investigator databases and web-scraped collections. Used for pure discovery, localization (identifying origin of clues), and jurisdictional correlation. Version 2 coming in 2026.
- Katalyst Suite of technologies and victim-centric training created to establish new national or regional child sexual abuse investigation teams. Partnered with End Violence Against Children. Development effort to create a repeatable hybrid cloud platform for countries launching new law enforcement initiatives. Currently being implemented in India with potential for scale-up globally.
- Crimes Against Children (CAC) Ontology International standard providing a structured ontology-based specification for representing information in crimes-against-children investigations. Extends CASE/UCO and gUFO ontologies. Contains 2,154 classes and 2,443 properties across 97 ontology files with 30 validation modules. Part of the Linux Foundation Cyber Domain Ontology ecosystem.
- VICS Cloud National and regional cloud instances that store, analyze, and exchange intelligence derived from investigations. Each partner country operates its own VICS-formatted intelligence database. Multiple national VICS cloud instances are deployed worldwide.
- Applied Digital Forensics Techniques Workshop Workshop for Crimes Against Children Investigators and Forensics Examiners offered at DFRWS USA 2026 conference. Includes hands-on training with MSAB, Magnet Griffeye, and Project VIC International tools. Also covers victim identification tradecraft and ICACCOPS capability.
Quantifiable outcome
- Typically 30% or more of child abuse material in a new case is found through automated triage using VICS hashes
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Project VIC
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Project VIC technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
AI capability8 records
Feature7 records
Project VIC partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.
- Kindred TechcoreStarting November 1, 2023, Kindred Tech became responsible for overseeing coordination, releases, and growth of the VICS data model and associated ecosystem. They utilize ForceForge as the primary delivery mechanism for the VICS data model. Kindred Tech was selected due to their expertise through involvement in Project Katalyst and ForceForge.
- MicrosoftcoreProject VIC is the worldwide licensee for Microsoft's PhotoDNA tool for the crimes against children use case. Microsoft also provided a significant grant through Microsoft AI for Good to develop and deploy technologies. Volunteers include Microsoft employees, and there is a Microsoft Azure grant for compute resources.
- MITRE CorporationcoreMITRE developed and licensed the SAFER (Sexual Assault Feature Extraction and Reduction) technology to Project VIC in 2019. Cory Hall served as Principal Investigator for the SAFER research project while at MITRE before transitioning to Project VIC.
- End Violence Against ChildrencoreProject VIC partnered with End Violence Against Children fund to create Katalyst, a development effort to create a hybrid cloud platform for countries to launch law enforcement initiatives. Received grant funding for this initiative.
- EUROPOLsupportingEUROPOL's Trace-an-Object program works with Project VIC's Illuminate technology to help identify locations where images were taken by matching visual clues against databases.
- We Protect Global AlliancesupportingProject VIC operates in partnership with the We Protect Global Alliance to advance child protection technologies globally.
- DFRWSsupportingProject VIC partners with DFRWS (Digital Forensics Research Workshop) to provide annual training workshops at their USA conference for crimes against children investigators.
- Technology Partner Ecosystem (30+ vendors)core30+ technology companies embed Project VIC technologies into their digital investigation products. Partners include: Microsoft, Magnet Forensics, Griffeye, MSAB, Cellebrite, Nuix, Oxygen Forensics, Detego Global, AccessData, ADF Solutions, Autopsy, CameraForensics, Cellebrite, GetData Forensics, GMD Software, Hubstream, Logicube, MSAB, NetSpark, OSForensics, Pathfinder Labs, Penlink, Semantics21, Sumuri, T3K.ai, Wetstone, and ZIUZ.
- Detego GlobalsupportingDetego has a full integration of the Project VIC SAFER model and Safer Viewing officer safety technology in their forensic products.
Scale indicators10 records
Recent moves6 records
Project VIC competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Thorn: Thorn builds technology products to combat child sexual exploitation, including tools for identifying victims and disrupting abuse. It shares Project VIC's mission of using technology to fight CSAM and serves a similar law enforcement and platform customer base.
- Internet Watch Foundation: The Internet Watch Foundation operates the UK's CSAM URL and hash list, providing intelligence to law enforcement and industry partners. It is the closest geographic and functional analog to Project VIC's VICS hash database outside the US, with overlapping technology and customer segments.
- Child Rescue Coalition: Child Rescue Coalition provides technology that helps law enforcement identify and rescue child sexual abuse victims, including tools that surface anonymous online predators. It operates in the same investigator-customer space with comparable technology offerings.
- Griffeye (a Magnet Forensics company): Griffeye (now part of Magnet Forensics) specializes in digital forensics specifically for child sexual abuse material investigations. It is both a direct technology competitor and an integration partner with Project VIC, making it one of the most directly comparable peers.
Others
- MITRE Corporation: MITRE developed the SAFER technology that Project VIC now licenses worldwide. While not a direct competitor, MITRE is a critical upstream technology partner and ecosystem enabler whose research output directly feeds Project VIC's product roadmap.
Broad incumbents
- Magnet Forensics: Magnet Forensics is a major commercial digital forensics vendor that integrates Project VIC's technologies into its products (including through Griffeye). It is a critical commercial channel for Project VIC while also being a broader competitor in the forensics tool space.
- Cellebrite: Cellebrite is a global digital intelligence vendor whose mobile and computer forensics products are used by law enforcement. It is both a Project VIC integration partner and a broader competitor with the resources to develop in-house alternatives.
- National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC): NCMEC operates the CyberTipline and broader child protection programs in the US. While much larger and broader in mandate than Project VIC, it is a key ecosystem participant and potential partner/customer for any CSAM-focused technology.
- ICAC Task Force Program: The Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Program is a DOJ-funded national network of law enforcement agencies investigating online child exploitation. Project VIC's primary customer base consists of ICAC-affiliated investigators, making it the dominant incumbent in the user community.
Emerging players
- Marinus Analytics: Marinus Analytics applies AI and machine learning to fight human trafficking and child exploitation, with products used by law enforcement. It is an emerging commercial player with overlapping computer vision and OSINT capabilities targeted at the same investigator customer.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Project VIC social profiles
Digital presenceProject VIC financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Project VIC leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Project VIC funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Project VIC M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Project VIC
What does Project VIC do?
Project VIC International develops and licenses a technology ecosystem of hash-based intelligence (VICS Hashes, PhotoDNA), machine learning triage tools (VICSafer, VIC Point, Illuminate), and interoperability standards (VICS Data Model, CAC Ontology) used by law enforcement and digital forensics vendors to investigate child sexual exploitation. The organization provides these technologies at no cost to law enforcement and licenses them on an annual basis to technology vendors that embed them into commercial and open-source forensic tool suites.
Is Project VIC a public or private company?
Project VIC is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Project VIC founded?
Project VIC was founded in 2012. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Project VIC based?
Project VIC is headquartered in Neptune, United States, in the North America region.
How does Project VIC make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Technology Licensing to Vendors are the primary driver. The others are grants and donations.
Who are Project VIC's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Thorn, Internet Watch Foundation, Child Rescue Coalition and Griffeye (a Magnet Forensics company). MITRE Corporation is listed as an others. Broad incumbents are Magnet Forensics, Cellebrite, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and ICAC Task Force Program. Marinus Analytics is listed as an emerging player.
Does Project VIC have an API?
No public API is recorded for Project VIC.
What industry is Project VIC in?
Project VIC's product category is Digital Forensics Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAOAIAJ, Digital Forensics & Malware Analysis, with a secondary code of HDADAAAF, Identity Verification & Proofing (IDV, KYC, Biometrics). Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 8734.