Google offers up $1 million to hackers that can pwn2own Chrome

Chrome expected to pass IE in the summer according to StatCounter

Google’s Chrome is yet to have been hacked at the annual Pwn2Own conference but that might be because it has flown under the radar for so long.  With its market share now approaching Microsoft Internet Explorer for the lead the global browser war, Chrome now has a bigger target on its back.

Still though, Google wants hackers to try to find vulnerabilities in Chrome and more importantly disclose them to Google and is now offering big rewards to anyone who can crack Chrome.

Originally, our plan was to sponsor as part of this year’s Pwn2Own competition. Unfortunately, we decided to withdraw our sponsorship when we discovered that contestants are permitted to enter Pwn2Own without having to reveal full exploits (or even all of the bugs used!) to vendors. Full exploits have been handed over in previous years, but it’s an explicit non-requirement in this year’s contest, and that’s worrisome. We will therefore be running this alternative Chrome-specific reward program. It is designed to be attractive — not least because it stays aligned with user safety by requiring the full exploit to be submitted to us. We guarantee to send non-Chrome bugs to the appropriate vendor immediately.