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Mac Hack Contest Redux

Posted by samzenpus on from the what-breaks-first dept.

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.""

7 of 164 comments (clear)

  1. easy by jim.hansson · · Score: 5, Interesting

    http://slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=508230

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    preview button, my computer does't have any preview button
  2. Default Install by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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".

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    Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
  3. What will be the GNU/Linux prize? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The 386 it was installed on?

  4. Re:Potential for rigging by Decado · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

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  5. Re:Prediction by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 5, Funny

    There is already a trojan available for vista, however noone is infected because its not finished copying over the network yet.

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    liqbase :: faster than paper
  6. TFA doesn't say by Cajun+Hell · · Score: 5, Funny

    Who is operating each machine? I need their email addresses. I want to send them some programs, and my "hack" is that the programs will come with instructions to the operator: please execute this attachment.

    My understanding is that for Windows, I just need to have the filename end with .exe. For MacOS, I need it to end with .dmg. For Linux, I need to train the user how to use chmod.

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    "Believe me!" -- Donald Trump
  7. Re:Prediction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sorry that's my fault, let me turn my sound off.