Mac Hack Contest Redux

narramissic writes "Remember the controversial Mac hacking contest from last year's CanSecWest conference? No? Here's a refresher: Conference organizers challenged attendees to hack into a Macintosh laptop, with the successful hacker winning the computer and a cash prize. Winner Dino Dai Zovi found a QuickTime bug that allowed him to run unauthorized software on the Mac once the computer's browser was directed to a specially crafted Web page. Well, the contest is back again this year, but with a twist, says Dragos Ruiu, the principal organizer of CanSecWest: 'We're thinking of having a contest where we have Vista and OS X and Linux ... and see which one goes first.""

Comments

Default Install

[Archangel Michael]

I'd make sure that each was installed to default configuration. No tweaking allowed.

Vista installed from DVD default/recommended choices where possible on installation screens. Same with Ubuntu, and Mac OS/X. Any deviations noted. Any extra software installed must be available on all three platforms.

Just to make it "fair".

Re:Potential for rigging

[Decado]

I would have said that the challenge pretty much amounts to saying "The next OS we find a vulnerability for is the weakest". In the long term it is a meaningless piece of data. If we hear about a new exploit for any OS tomorrow it means nothing, you have to look at long term trends to find a correct answer.