Teen Hacks Google Chrome, Wins $60,000 Prize
A 16-year-old kid who once applied to work at Google but received no response was able to hack Google Chrome just hours before Google ended its $1 million hack challenge during the CanSecWest conference in Canada.
Asking to go by his handle “Pinkie Pie” the teen was able to implement three zero-day vulnerabilities, including one which allow him to escape the browser’s security sandbox and in turn gain control of the targeted systems operating system and applications.
According to the young hacker he spent just a week and a half finding the vulnerabilities and then to develop the exploit. In the last hour of the contest he was able to achieve stability and claim a $60,000 prize.
Instead of openings the calculator application on the targeted machine as other hackers had done during the content his hack ended with an image of an aze-wielding Pinkie Pie pony, a character from the My Little Pony animated series.
Speaking about his ability to get out of the Google Sandbox the hacker revealed that it was actually easier than the other exploits, noting:
“I got lucky because I found a way to do that relatively early.”
The sandbox is suppose to keep your computer safe by making it impossible for malware to escape your web browser and affect other parts of the computer’s operating system and other applications.
Google in the meantime is not commenting on the exploits which they will now work to quickly fix.
In the meantime the resume that the young man sent to Google is now “being looked over” according to a Google representative who was present during the event.
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James Johnson James is a new media professional with more than half a decade worth of experience in the online writing space. He currently serves as the Associate Editor of Inquisitr.com and the Editor-in-Chief of SocialNewsDaily.com. He also serves as a resident writer for Splash Press Media. In his spare time James consults businesses regarding SEO and Content Development.
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