[olePigeon]

� 10 questions for MacBook hacker Dino Dai Zovi | Zero Day | ZDNet.com

At the CanSecWest conference in Vancouver, Canada, they set up 2 MacBook Pros (one 15" and one 17") plus $10,000 to anyone who can hack the computers. Over three days, they laxed the security each day allowing security experts to try and break into the two computers.

One of the computers, a 15" MacBook Pro, was indeed hacked through a newly discovered JavaScript exploit through the Safari browser. However, the hacker only had user-level access. He couldn't get root access and couldn't modify any other user or system files because he didn't actually know any passwords.

He still won the prize for hacking the 15" MacBook Pro (which included the computer itself plus $10,000.) The 17" MacBook Pro required the user to get root access (not just any access) and all attempts were unsuccessful.

I think that was a pretty successful test. Even the computer that was cracked didn't pose a threat to even other users on the same computer. Kudos to the hacker, though, he did manage a browser based exploit that could've lead to identity theft of some sort.

[TETENAL]

Originally Posted by olePigeon 

[url=http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=176]Even the computer that was cracked didn't pose a threat to even other users on the same computer.

That's cold comfort if you are the one user who got hacked.

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by TETENAL 

That's cold comfort if you are the one user who got hacked.

Yes, but if it were Windows, the entire computer would be at risk.

[brassplayersrock²]

so the prizes are a hacked computer and monies? ....nice

[Chuckit]

Most reports state that it's a Java exploit, not a JavaScript exploit.

[Gossamer]

Originally Posted by brassplayersrock 

so the prizes are a hacked computer and monies? ....nice

No, just one money.