Editor’s note: This article was first published in February 2011; it reports news from that month, including the Chrome 9 release and a hacking contest on the following 9 March. The article predates the contest’s result.
Google has something new to show off. It has just released version 9 of Google Chrome, and it’s so sure of its creation’s security that it hasn’t hesitated to offer a prize of $20,000 and a laptop to whoever finds a security flaw.
It has invited any hacker who wants to take part to turn up on 9 March and try to find “holes” in the security of its Chrome browser.
Meanwhile, the Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari browsers have also joined the “party”, offering a $15,000 prize to the hacker who manages to find a security flaw, which is a very risky move, given the widespread complaints about Internet Explorer’s lack of security.
Anyway, that’s Google for you. I imagine we’ll hear how the contest turns out. What’s clear is that the winner won’t have any trouble finding a job, since their cover letter could simply read: “I’m the person who brought down Google Chrome.”
Further reading
Featured image: Nate Grigg, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr.
