Google holds regular competitions to encourage involvement in improving the security of the Chromium project. Contests like Pwnium helps to better patch specific exploits and issues to make Chromium even more secure.
This year Pwnium 4 will once again set sights on Chrome OS, and will be hosted in March at the CanSecWest security conference in Vancouver.
With a total of $2.71828 Million USD in the pot, Pwnium rewards will be issued for eligible Chrome OS exploits at the following levels:
— $110,000 USD: browser or system-level compromise in guest mode or as a logged-in user, delivered via a web page.
— $150,000 USD: compromise with device persistence: guest to guest with interim reboot, delivered via a web page.
Past Pwnium competitions have focused on Intel-based Chrome OS devices, but this year researchers can choose between an ARM-based Chromebook, the HP Chromebook 11 (WiFi), or the Acer C720 Chromebook (2GB WiFi) that is based on the Intel Haswell microarchitecture. The attack must be demonstrated against one of these devices running the then-current stable version of Chrome OS.
Participants need to register in advance for a timeslot. To register, e-mail pwnium4@chromium.org. Registration will close at 5:00 p.m. PST Monday, March 10th, 2014. Only exploits demonstrated on time in this specifically-arranged window will be eligible for a reward.
More Info:
— The Chromium Blog : Announcing Pwnium 4 Targeting Chrome OS
— Pwnium4@CanSecWest2014 : Official Rules
— Chromium OS : Developer Guide