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Linux, Leopard and Vista: The ultimate hack contest
Hacking comp to determine the most secure

By Tom Espiner

Published: Friday 08 February 2008

Apple Mac, Microsoft Windows and Linux operating systems are to be pitted against each other in an ethical hacking contest in Vancouver next month.

Security from A to Z

Click on the links below to find out more...

A is for Antivirus
B is for Botnets
C is for CMA
D is for DDoS
E is for Extradition
F is for Federated identity
G is for Google
H is for Hackers
I is for IM
J is for Jaschan (Sven)
K is for Kids
L is for Love Bug
M is for Microsoft
N is for Neologisms
O is for Orange
P is for Passwords
Q is for Questions
R is for Rootkits
S is for Spyware
T is for Two-factor authentication
U is for USB sticks/devices
V is for Virus variants
W is for Wi-fi
X is for OS X
Y is for You
Z is for Zero-day

The contest is being run by the organisers of the CanSecWest security conference as a repeat of 2007's PWN to Own context, where security researchers competed to win a MacBook Pro and $10,000. The prize was shared between security researchers, Dino Dai Zovi and Shane Macauley, for their successful use of a zero-day QuickTime vulnerability, which they used to compromise the MacBook. The vulnerability was subsequently found to also affect Windows platforms.

The hacking competition at CanSecWest 2008 will pit the Linux, Leopard OS X and Vista operating systems against each other, according to CanSecWest organiser Dragos Ruiu.

Ruiu told silicon.com sister site ZDNet.co.uk: "The fur is flying right now about which is more secure: Linux, Vista or Leopard. Linux guys have their propaganda; Windows guys are saying this and that; Apple guys have buried their heads in the sand as usual. I guess the proof is in the pudding."

The prizes for the contest will be "several laptops", according to Ruiu. Ruiu had not yet decided which laptops but was looking for something "new and thrilling".

He said: "We want the prizes to inspire lust amongst geeks. It's going to be something lustworthy."

Last year the $10,000 prize money was supplied by security firm TippingPoint. This year's contest still needs a sponsor, and it is possible that the nature of the contest could still change, said Ruiu, although he declined to say what other form it might take.

CanSecWest 2008 will be held in Vancouver from 26 to 28 March.