Announcing Remote Participation in Pwn2Own Vancouver

Many around the globe are understandably worried about traveling due to the COVID-19 coronavirus. We have concerns as well, and these concerns have caused us to reconsider some of the rules surrounding our upcoming Pwn2Own Vancouver event. Traditionally, contestants need to be physically present at the CanSecWest conference to participate in Pwn2Own. For 2020, we have made the decision to allow conditional remote participation in the contest.

Here’s how it will work.

If you have either travel restrictions or travel-safety concerns, you can choose to opt for remote participation. You still need to register before the contest deadline (March 13, 2020). You will also need to send a detailed whitepaper completely explaining your exploit chain and instructions on how to run the entry by March 17, 2020. A member of the ZDI staff will run the exploit for you. All attempts will be filmed and available for viewing by you. If requested, we will work with remote contestants to monitor the attempt in real time via a phone call or video chat. Please note that since you are not in person, changes to exploits/scripts/etc. will not be possible, which could lower your chance of winning should something unexpected occur.

Otherwise, the contest remains unchanged. We will have a random drawing to determine the schedule of attempts on the first day of the contest, and we will proceed from there. Our intention with allowing remote participation is to provide as many as possible with the benefits of participating in Pwn2Own while still treating all contestants as equally as possible. If you have questions about this remote participation option, please contact us at zdi@trendmicro.com. We will be happy to address your questions or concerns directly.

The complete rules with all updates can be found here. As always, we encourage potential entrants to read the rules thoroughly if they choose to participate. Be sure to stay tuned to this blog and follow us on Twitter for the latest information and updates about the contest. While we look forward to seeing everyone who can come to Vancouver, we hope those who cannot be there will still participate in what’s shaping up to be a memorable Pwn2Own.