IE and Safari out at Pwn2Own on day 1

pparks1 · 10 Mar 2011

fseal said:

Sentences like this "Google's Chrome browser was also up for grabs, but no one stepped forward to try hacking it." speaks voolumes about the fairness of it all.

Well, considering they pay the person who hacks the browser...it doesn't make sense to not hack at Google Chrome if you think you can succeed. There was $20,000 on the line to the person who could bring down the Google Chrome browser. If you even stood a remote chance to break it, would you not put in a little effort to get that $20,000. I know that I would.

Perhaps Google went around and paid highly skilled Chrome hackers $30,000 to not even try. That's the only scenario I can image that would have left Chrome untouched if hackers could hack it.

seekermeister · 10 Mar 2011

fseal said:

Well yes, of course they are all fixed, but given that they are being found at a steady rate, it's pretty safe to assume that it still has some, in fact probably a lot. Until the discoveries slow down to one or two a year, the software is guaranteed to contain plenty more waiting to be discovered.

Sentences like this "Google's Chrome browser was also up for grabs, but no one stepped forward to try hacking it." speaks voolumes about the fairness of it all.

Given that Safari and Chrome are based on the same base layout engine, it's entirely likely to suffer a lot of the same flaws. Why aren't people going after it? If Google makes it through because no one dared to suffer community retribution for even trying, does it get to claim it survived too? :)

So again, if Opera makes it through unscathed it's far more likely it's because no one bothered to try very hard... The people that do the hacking as well as the contests are so religeously polarized you can't judge much at all by the outcomes, and that's really a shame

You can believe as you choose, but ALL browsers have vulnerabilities, even chrome. Like I said, what matters is how they are dealt with, particularly in terms of speed. Opera 11.1 currently has zero vulnerabilities listed. I do not expect that to remain true, but when one is found, there will be an Opera 11.2 released very quickly. The same can not be said about any other browser.

EDIT: The reason that Internet Explorer is more often targeted, is because of two reasons, first it is an easier target, and second because it is more widely used.

Tepid · 10 Mar 2011

"Google's Chrome browser was also up for grabs, but no one stepped forward to try hacking it."

Sorry,, wrong answer for me.

Really? Why, specifically? So, what they are saying,, Google Chrome has their browser so locked down that The NSA, CIA, MI5, what ever initials you want to put up there can be 100% garraunteed to never, ever, not once, EVER, FOREVER, be NOT ONE TINY BIT vulnerable?

I call BS.

Windows 911 · 10 Mar 2011

Hey guys, just an update: Firefox survived Pwn2Own today. So the current standings are...

The Fallen:

Safari 5
IE8
Blackberry OS via Drive-by download through browser

The Survivors:

Firefox 3.6
Google Chrome 10

More to come!

Lebon14 · 10 Mar 2011

w00t. Firefox' still alive. That is awesome. Chrome's would be my second choice if Firefox wouldn't be working for me anymore.

Tepid · 10 Mar 2011

sorry, Chromes standing in this is a complete fallacy at best.

Collusion could even be brought to some kind of real debate.

Chrome ONLY survives, cause no one is testing it. That's it.
You can not call something surviving if no one is touching it.

It is not being Tested, It has no way of stating one way or the other.

There can be no real decision,cause NO ONE IS TESTING IT.........

In Other Words, IT SHOULD NOT BE ON THE LIST, IT IS DISQUALIFIED FROM RESULTS AS NO ONE IS TESTING IT, THERE ARE NO RESULTS TO REPORT one way or the other.

The perception of survivability due to the lack of testing does not automatically make it a secure browser.

And it is an Out Right LIE to state as much.

Stormkitty · 10 Mar 2011

Chrome's UI is non-changable, making it a non-option in use. I like being able to change around my UI, and taking away that choice means I don't use the software. Not to mention all the Orwellian Spycode Chrome has, meaning even if I did like it, I'd be using SRWare Iron.

pparks1 · 10 Mar 2011

Tepid said:

sorry, Chromes standing in this is a complete fallacy at best.

Collusion could even be brought to some kind of real debate.

Chrome ONLY survives, cause no one is testing it. That's it.
You can not call something surviving if no one is touching it.

It is not being Tested, It has no way of stating one way or the other.

There can be no real decision,cause NO ONE IS TESTING IT.........

In Other Words, IT SHOULD NOT BE ON THE LIST, IT IS DISQUALIFIED FROM RESULTS AS NO ONE IS TESTING IT, THERE ARE NO RESULTS TO REPORT one way or the other.

The perception of survivability due to the lack of testing does not automatically make it a secure browser.

And it is an Out Right LIE to state as much.

These are hackers at a hacking conference. Their pride is on the line. They are being offered $20,000 dollars if they can crack Google Chrome. Imagine the noteriety of being the first one to drop Google Chrome.

It's not that Google Chrome is not being touched or tested, but it's 100% freaking clear that these hackers don't have a known exploit to take advantage of it and win their $20,000. Microsoft fans just need to accept the fact that from a security standpoint, there are better options than IE out there. Firefox and Chrome are past the first two days, Safari was dropped in seconds and IE within minutes.

Do you really freaking think that somebody is there saying, well I could exploit Chrome and get $20,000...but instead I'm going to just pick my nose and watch YouTube while at this conference.

Stormkitty · 10 Mar 2011

Not just $20,000. $35,000, 15k from the P2O organisers, and 20k from Google themselves. 35k is a lot of pizza. :P

Tepid · 10 Mar 2011

For the record, I use FF quite a lot.
I still call BS.