The annual computer hackfest, Pwn20wn was just held in Vancouver and revealed that Firefox is the weakest of the browsers.
The annual Pwn20wn event revealed that Firefox is the weakest web browser in comparison to Chrome, Internet Explorer and Safari.
Pwn20wn has been running since 2007 and each year a different task is given to security research firms in exchange for over $850,000 in cash prizes.
The French security firm Vupen took the lead for most of the event, taking home over $400,000 in prizes.
Firefox has never had a great record at the event and this year it was deemed the least secure browser. In fact, the only year that Firefox was not hacked was back in 2011.
This year, four separate vulnerabilities were found in Firefox due to its lack of a sandbox. The sandbox is essentially a shell or firewall that keeps it from segregating from the rest of the operating system. Chrome, Safari and Internet Explorer all have a sandbox and therefore were found to be much more secure. With the right knowledge, Firefox users could have their entire computer hacked.
Due to the fact that Chrome is the newest browser it was generally considered to be the safest and fastest. The latest versions of Internet Explorer also surprisingly stacked up against Firefox due to Microsoft adding the sandbox.
Apparently, Mozilla has not created Firefox with the capabilities to have a sandbox program which is why they have never added it.
At the end of the event, Tipping Point/HP, who sponsors the program, purchases the vulnerabilities from the hackers so they can improve on their safety products.