[ISN] Why Pwn2Own doesn't target Linux

From: InfoSec News <alerts_at_private>
Date: Wed, 9 Mar 2011 05:46:05 -0600 (CST)
http://blog.internetnews.com/skerner/2011/03/why-pwn2own-doesnt-target-linu.html

By Sean Michael Kerner 
Netstat -vat
Internetnews.com
March 8, 2011

 From the 'Hack Me' files:

The annual Pwn2Own hacking challenge kicks off today, pitting security 
researchers against web browsers and mobile platforms. The HP 
TippingPoint sponsored event grows every year to include more platforms, 
though Linux isn't among them.

Pwn2Own will target IE, Firefox, Safari and Chrome all running on 
Windows 7. Windows XP isn't on the target list and neither is Linux, for 
different reasons.

I spoke with Aaron Portnoy, Manager of the Security Research Team at HP 
TippingPoint the other day and asked him why Linux wasn't being 
included. Apparently the question is among the most common questions he 
is ever asked about Pwn2Own.

    "Linux is not an operating system that has widespread use with any 
    one particular distribution, flavor or configuration," Portnoy said. 
    "In general Linux is still a server-based operating system, people 
    do use it on the desktop, but you can't go to BestBuy and buy Linux 
    with a specific distro on it that everyone uses that has widespread 
    market share. If we were to include Linux, we'd have even more 
    controversy and we just don't want to deal it."

Personally, I think that Pwn2Own is an event that serves to focus 
security research and makes the underlying platforms better.

[...]


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Received on Wed Mar 09 2011 - 03:46:05 PST

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