Is Safari Easy To Hack?
Charlie Miller, Security researcher (he won $10,000 for hacking into a MacBook Air via Safari in just two minutes), said that he thinks that Safari will be the first browser to fall at this year’s Pwn2Own contest.
“It might be because I’m biased about the things I’m good at, but it’s the easiest browser [to hack],” said Miller to Computerworld this week.
“Apple’s products are really friendly to users, and Safari is designed to handle anything, including all kinds of file formats,” said Miller. “With a lot of functionality comes the increased chance of bugs. The more complex software is, the less secure it is.”
The Pwn2Own contest this year will pit hackers against a MacBook running Mac OS X with Safari and Firefox installed, as well as a Sony Vaio P running Windows 7 and IE8, Firefox, and Chrome installed.
To participate in the contest, you can choose either or both technologies and must generally prove successful code execution. A contestant may only win one prize per flaw (e.g. if he is able to pwn a browser and a mobile device using the same flaw, he has to choose one to go after).
For now, Firefox is on top, but everything is possible. [via]
