Google Offers $1 Million For Hackers To Exploit Chrome (Pwnium: Rewards For Exploits)
The search giant Google is offering a huge amount (total $1 million) of reward for those who will successfully hack the Google Chrome browser at the Pwn2Own Hacker Contest taking place next week (7 March, 2012). Google will reward those successful contestants at Pwn2Own with prices of $60,000, $40,000 and $20,000 – depending on the severity of the exploits that are demonstrated on a Windows 7 machine running the browser. The Prizes will be awarded on a first-come-first-serve basis, until the entire $1 million has been claimed.
Chrome is currently the only web browser eligible for entry into Pwn2Own that has never been successfully hacked. Contestants often note the difficulty of bypassing Google’s security sandbox as a reason for this. “While we’re proud of Chrome’s leading track record in past competitions, the fact is that not receiving exploits means that it’s harder to learn and improve,” said Chris Evans and Justin Schuh, members of the Google Chrome security team. “To maximize our chances of receiving exploits this year, we’ve upped the ante. We will directly sponsor up to $1 million worth of rewards.”
Additional information can be found on the Chromium official blog.