At the CanSecWest computer security conference, in a hacking “Pwn To Own” contest, a MacBook Air was hacked on the second day of the competition, in two minutes.
Contest participants had their choice of trying to hack an Apple MacBook Air running OS X 10.5.2, a Sony Vaio VGN-TZ37CN running Ubuntu 7.10, or a Fujitsu U810 running Vista Ultimate SP1. During the first day, when attacks were limited to network attacks on the operating system, no one managed to compromise any of the systems.
Come day two however, the Macbook fell. Granted it was because of a security hole in Apple’s Safari browser, but – (to paraphrase Horton) – a hole is a hole, no matter how small. I am certain security software companies are salivating in the general direction of all Mac users as we speak.
***UPDATE*** The Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 system fell on the final day of hacking. Much like the cheese, the Linux-based Ubuntu system stands alone… and un-compromised.
