What THC does

THC (The Hacker's Choice) is an international hacker collective founded in 1995 that develops and publishes free security research tools, exploits, and academic papers. The group operates as a volunteer organization that explicitly states it is 'not for hire' and that all of its work is produced for the public good. THC's membership spans multiple countries with operational ties to Germany (inferred from member interactions with BKA and BND), and the collective engages with leading IT security companies, contributes to Internet standards through the IETF, and maintains a donor relationship with the EFF. The collective has held the editor-in-chief role at Phrack Magazine and speaks regularly at conferences including HITB and CCC Congress.

THC's core technology portfolio spans security research tools, vulnerability discovery frameworks, network security utilities, cryptography tooling, fuzzing engines, and rootkit development. Notable proprietary projects include AFL++ (a coverage-guided software fuzzer), Hydra (the world's first parallelized network logon cracker), THC-IPv6 (an IPv6 attack toolkit), Dsniff (a network auditing suite), and the Global Socket Relay Network. Beyond standalone tools, THC operates live infrastructure services including Segfault (free disposable root servers with VPN-routed traffic and TOR support), a free mail forwarding service supporting multiple domains with browser extension and bot integrations for Discord and Telegram, and the Tor/Snowflake proxy service for censorship circumvention. The collective's technology stack integrates with commercial VPN providers (NordVPN, CryptoStorm, Mullvad) for outbound privacy routing on its Segfault service.

THC does not generate commercial revenue. All tools and services are provided free of charge, with no pricing models, customer contracts, or commercial distribution channels in operation. Distribution is entirely open-source through GitHub repositories (github.com/hackerschoice, github.com/vanhauser-thc) and direct service access. The primary user segments are the global security research and hacker community, who use THC tools for legitimate security testing and vulnerability research, alongside privacy advocates and activists seeking privacy and internet freedom tools. The collective's stated mission is to expose insecure IT security practices and advance the IT Security movement rather than pursue commercial profit.

Name

THC

Legal name

The Hacker's Choice

Website

https://thc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

THC is a volunteer hacker collective founded in 1995 that develops and publishes free security research tools, vulnerability discovery frameworks, and free hosted infrastructure services (disposable root servers, mail forwarding, Tor proxies) for the global security research and privacy communities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cybersecurity Research Tools

NAICS

Security Systems Services (except Locksmiths) (561621), Computer Systems Design Services (541512)

SIC

Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

Network Access Control (NAC) (HDADABAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

VPN Gateways & Concentrators (IPsec/SSL) (HDAFAFAC)

Keywords

• Security research tools
• Penetration testing software
• Vulnerability discovery
• Open source security
• Network auditing tools

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Personnel

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

THC is a volunteer hacker collective that develops and freely publishes open-source security research tools for IT security professionals, including the Hydra parallelized network logon cracker, AFL++ software fuzzer, Dsniff network auditing suite, THC-IPv6 attack toolkit, Global Socket NAT-traversal tool, and Bincrypter. In addition to tools, THC operates free hosted services for the community: Segfault disposable root servers (ephemeral Kali-Linux VMs routed via VPN/TOR), a free multi-domain email forwarding service, and a Tor/Snowflake proxy contribution.

Product overview

The Hacker's Choice (THC) is an international hacker collective founded in 1995 that develops and publishes free security research tools, exploits, and academic papers. THC operates a portfolio of free services including Segfault (disposable root servers with VPN routing), a free mail forwarding service with multi-domain support and Discord/Telegram integrations, and the Tor/Snowflake proxy network. Their tool suite includes well-known security tools like Hydra (network logon cracker), AFL++ (software fuzzer), Dsniff (network auditing), IPv6 attack toolkit, and various other hacking utilities. THC also maintains publications including Phrack Magazine and maintains a significant archive of security research dating back to 1993.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 30 years of continuous operation and tool development since 1995
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Google Project Zero: Google's security research team that discovers and discloses zero-day vulnerabilities. Project Zero operates in the same vulnerability research and disclosure space as THC, though backed by a single commercial entity rather than volunteers.
• PortSwigger (Burp Suite): Vendor of Burp Suite, the dominant web application security testing platform. Both THC and PortSwigger produce widely-used security research tools, with PortSwigger operating a commercial model with free community edition.
• OWASP Foundation: Open-source community producing freely available security tools, documentation, and standards (e.g., OWASP ZAP, Top 10). THC shares the open-source, public-good model of producing security tools used globally by researchers and defenders.
• Rapid7 (Metasploit): Commercial vendor of Metasploit, the leading open-source penetration testing framework. Both THC's Hydra and Metasploit are foundational tools in the offensive security ecosystem, though Rapid7 operates a commercial model around Metasploit.
• Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF): Leading non-profit defending digital privacy, free speech, and innovation. THC is a major donor to EFF and shares its mission of advancing internet freedom, security research, and civil liberties in the digital age.

Direct peers

• Openwall Project: Volunteer-driven open-source project producing security tools (John the Ripper, Owl, etc.) for the public good. Like THC, Openwall relies on volunteer contributors and freely distributed tools for security research and testing.
• The Tor Project: Non-profit that develops the Tor anonymity network and the Snowflake pluggable transport. THC operates a Snowflake proxy to support Tor users, making them direct collaborators in the internet-freedom and censorship-circumvention space.
• Chaos Computer Club (CCC): Europe's largest hacker collective, based in Germany, focused on security research, hacking, and digital rights. THC and CCC share the German hacker scene, conference circuits (CCC Congress), and a mission of public-interest security research.
• Phenoelit: German security research group active in vulnerability research, exploit development, and hacking culture. Phenoelit is mentioned in THC's memorial page and shares the German hacker research scene and conference circuit.

Emerging players

• Trail of Bits: Security research and consulting firm that publishes open-source tools (e.g., Slither, Echidna, Manticore) for security testing. Trail of Bits shares THC's focus on cutting-edge security research and tool-building, but operates commercially.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xbsky.app/profile/hackerschoice.bsky.social
• GitHubgithub.com/hackerschoice
• YouTubeyoutube.com/watch?v=sQVLniT9CDY
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/thc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about THC