Despite headlines about rampant mobile insecurity, both Google Android and Windows Phone have withstood a cyber-battering in the 2014 Mobile Pwn2Own competition.
Two veteran security researchers,
VUPEN’s Nico Joly and Jüri Aedla, were able to achieve partial pwnage of the two mobile operating systems, controlling one aspect of each. But neither were able to gain comprehensive control over the devices, according to event host HP’s
recap of the annual
event.
Joly, who refined his competition entry on the same laptop he won at this spring’s Pwn2Own in Vancouver, was the only competitor to target Windows Phone (the Lumia 1520). Using an exploit aimed at the browser, he was successfully able to exfiltrate the cookie database; however, the sandbox held and he was unable to gain full control of the system.
Aedla meanwhile, who had a successful Firefox attack in Vancouver this spring, attacked a Google Nexus 5 running Android, via Wi-Fi. However, he was unable to elevate his privileges further than their original level.
