News Victorinox launches hacker challenge

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/bits/2010/03/23/victorinox-launches-hacker-challenge/1

 

Sod the contest, I know what my next pendrive will be!

 

Too bad you can't crack the biometric instead - channelling MythBusters, all you need is tape.

 

I'll be interested to see how this goes.

Wish I was any where near good enough to bother applying!

 

If I lived close enough, I'd sign up just for a laugh.

 

Right you are! I'm heading over to Discovery on demand to see if that one is available. If my memory is correct, they went really advanced to crack the Microsoft fingerprint reader and really had to go over the top to do it using jelly mold fingertips with heating and a secret portion not shown on telly. However, the uncrackable $600 door lock was done with a photocopy of the finger print!

Since we can't use the original fingerprint, maybe all that is pointless?

 

Hmmm, the store is a 5min walk from my work so I may have to pop in during my lunch break and watch

 

Original PR-stunt. Makes me wanna buy one..

 

Sounds like the real weak point in the system, obtaining a copy of the original finger-print, has been excluded from the scope of the task. Still be interested to see if anyone can do it.

 

I smell a set-up tbh. 24 people that will be "selected"
How much you willing to bet that anyone that has the actual status of hacker wont be "selected" for this challenge

 

What would be the point in that? The idea of competitions like this and white hat hacking in general is to show up flaws in the system, and the best people at this are hardcore hackers.

Many hackers get offered jobs after successful high profile hacks.

 

This is great. Carry your encrypted data around with you in the form of a knife. Then if you get stopped and searched by the police then you get in trouble. At least that's how they're trying to make it!

In the UK anyway!

 

don't like the knife... but loving the USB key

 

Police won't confiscate a Victorinox, or other multitool.

It has obvious purpose. In the UK, you can carry any <3.5" blade excluding locking or flick blades.

Any length or type may be carried if concealed with good verifiable reason. (Ie. I'm a member of a hunting club, heres the number. Or I'm a Scout Leader, hence the wonky uniform)


But anyway, on topic, surely the best way to crack it is to desolder the memory chip, and fit it to a pre-made sans hardware encryption reader?

Doesn't say anything about that being disallowed. Feel free to try to implement that master plan anyone - I won't be able to make it there. But if you win, your welcome to my PayPal

(Unless, of course i consider your hacking skill to be upto the task of fauxing PP...)

 

since you swipe the finger, there is not much of a print remaining on the plate is it?
something else with those "press finger against surface" type of devices.
And I know a print can remain even after cleaning the surface. Forensics sure have lifted prints from cleaned surfaces before. Of course depends on how good of a cleaner you are.

 

Surely it's pretty trivial to fake an email response saying everything's fine?

 

I can decrypt windows passwords with a calculator, will that qualify me to take part?

 

The point would be its a pr stunt and no company wants to give away 100k tbh. How can you think otherwise, considering they are only allowing 24 people that they "select"