Security is always a hot button issue when it comes to computers, and it goes without saying that companies do place a premium on ensuring their system remains as secure as possible. Google has upped the ante where security is concerned surrounding their Chrome browser – by placing a $1 million bounty on offer to those who are able to hack its Chrome browser successfully when the CanSecWest security conference kicks off next week. Of course, this $1 million pool will be split among the many hackers that Google expect to see succeed, where contestants will be rewarded with various prize categories amounting to $60,000, $40,000, and $20,000 depending on the severity of the exploits that they discover. The machines used will run on Windows 7, and these prizes will be awarded on a first-come-first-served basis – at least until the $1 million limit is hit.
Here is a little bit of trivia – the Pwn2Own contest is already in its sixth year, where Chrome remains the only browser at Pwn2Own that has never to be brought down to its knees, due to the difficulty in bypassing Google’s security sandbox. Perhaps with an ever larger carrot dangling right in front, things might change?