Prizes to consist of 'new and thrilling' laptops

Feb 8, 2008 09:43 GMT  ·  By

Another hacking contest, this time taking place in Vancouver, next month, will see Apple's OS X, Microsoft's Windows and the Linux operating system pitted against each other in a hacking competition, similar to the "PWN to Own" contest at CanSecWest in 2007. CanSecWest organizer, Dragos Ruiu, now in Tokyo, is "shopping" for "new and thrilling" laptops as prizes for the competition.

The hacking competition is a "repeat of the 'PWN to Own' contest at CanSecWest in 2007, when security researchers competed to win a MacBook Pro and $10,000," CnetNews.com reports. Security researchers Dino Dai Zovi and Shane Macauley shared the prize for successfully using a zero-day QuickTime vulnerability, compromising the MacBook. Windows platforms were subsequently found equally vulnerable to the hack.

Run by the organizers of the CanSecWest Vancouver 2008 security conference, the hacking competition at CanSecWest 2008 will pit the Linux, Leopard OS X, and Vista operating systems against each other and, according to CanSecWest organizer Dragos Ruiu, "The fur is flying right now about which is more secure--Linux, Vista, or Leopard. Linux guys have their propaganda, Windows guys are saying this and that, Apple guys have buried their heads in the sand as usual. I guess the proof is in the pudding," he said on Thursday.

Ruiu also revealed that prizes would consist of "several laptops," but he couldn't confirm which particular models, when he spoke to ZDNet UK, as the security researcher was in Tokyo not just to organize the CanSecWest event, but to go "shopping for laptops" as well. Ruiu told interviewers he had not yet decided on the laptop models, but said he was looking for something "new and thrilling." He added that they "want the prizes to inspire lust amongst geeks. It's going to be something lustworthy."

The $10,000 prize for last year's PWN to Own contest was handed by security firm TippingPoint, while this year's "hack 'n win" competition still needs someone to provide their sponsorship. Dragos Ruiu also hinted at the possibility of changing the nature of the contest if necessary, yet declined to offer specific details.