It’s another bad sign for Internet Explorer.
Chinese computer experts were able to break the Web browser’s defenses in just 17 seconds on Thursday as part of a Canadian hacker competition.
{mosads}The team won a $32,500 prize for its feat. Contest organizers said that Internet Explorer and Google Chrome are the most difficult browsers to hack at this point, according to a report, which added to judges’ sense of awe.
Sponsored by HP and Google, the contest is called Pwn2Own and continues Friday in Vancouver, Canada. Its goal is to bring hackers together to expose security vulnerabilities in major Web applications.
Security experts who mount successful cyberattacks within a certain amount of time win cash prizes. Software makers are given all the information about weaknesses in their products, so the event is seen as a win-win for both communities.
The Chinese team that broke Internet Explorer works with Microsoft’s security team on the browser and has reported security problems to the company for five years.
Another winner on Thursday was security researcher Mariusz Mlynski, who apparently hacked Windows through a vulnerability in Firefox in just 0.512 seconds.
It should be noted that Microsoft is currently phasing out Internet Explorer.