Will the most secure browser please stand up?
Few things are more exciting for a computer geek than a hacking contest. Now there is a hacking contest that should excite you even if you are not a geek. The Pwn2Own hacking contest offers total cash prizes of $125,000. The challenge: to hack the Google Chrome web browser!
Why should you care about this? When you surf the web, you are connecting to web sites that are usually legitimate and safe. Unfortunately, you may stumble upon web sites that have been set up to exploit security vulnerabilities in your web browser. These vulnerabilities may exist in Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and even Chrome.
This challenge is part of Google’s promotion of Chrome as the most secure web browser. The security of Chrome is important to Google, since almost everything Google offers is through a web browser. This includes everything from its word processing and spreadsheet applications to its RSS reader and news service. If Google can provide the safest, most secure web browser available, it can validate its position that everything should run in a web browser.
Since Google is willing to stand behind this challenge – and even offer part of the cash prize – maybe you should consider Chrome for your computer. With its security features, sand-boxing, and automatic updates, Chrome may currently be the best contender for the most secure browser.
Antivirus software does not catch everything. Chrome closes the door to many security vulnerabilities that your antivirus software may or may not catch. Give it a try – it is free!
Please let me know what you think, and keep a look out for the results of the contest in March.