Proving that Google will pursue just about any opportunity to shore up vulnerabilities in their platforms, the search giant paid out $60,000 to the hacker known as “Pinkie Pie” who successfully exploited Google’s Chrome browser at “Pwnium 2” at the Hack in the Box 2012 event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Pinkie Pie was able to exploit and attack against two vulnerabilities in the browser. The first was related to the browser’s WebKit Scalable Vector Graphics functions which allowed him to compromise the renderer process. The second was a bug in the IPC layer.
The image displayed on a compromised computer after it was successfully hacked by Pinkie Pie during the first Pwnium competition in March. Image from Ars Technica.
Because these exploitations were rooted entirely on vulnerabilities within the Chrome browser, it qualified for Google’s highest award as a “full Chrome exploit” worth $60,000 and a free Chrombook. More impressive than the payout, was Google’s response to the vulnerabilities. A crack team of engineers coded a patch and the company claims it deployed the fix across its platforms in less than 10 hours after Pwnium 2 was concluded. That is light-speed compared to bug and security fixes reaching other browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari.
Maxwell Ramsey has made significant contributions to PhoneArena through his detailed reporting on technology policy and advancements, such as wireless charging standards and FCC regulations, helping demystify complex topics for a broad readership.
Recommended Stories
Loading Comments...
COMMENT
All comments need to comply with our
Community Guidelines
Phonearena comments rules
A discussion is a place, where people can voice their opinion, no matter if it
is positive, neutral or negative. However, when posting, one must stay true to the topic, and not just share some
random thoughts, which are not directly related to the matter.
Things that are NOT allowed:
Off-topic talk - you must stick to the subject of discussion
Offensive, hate speech - if you want to say something, say it politely
Spam/Advertisements - these posts are deleted
Multiple accounts - one person can have only one account
Impersonations and offensive nicknames - these accounts get banned
Moderation is done by humans. We try to be as objective as possible and moderate with zero bias. If you think a
post should be moderated - please, report it.
Have a question about the rules or why you have been moderated/limited/banned? Please,
contact us.
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless
Things that are NOT allowed: