Ben Hawkes

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Ben Hawkes is a computer security expert and white hat hacker from New Zealand, previously employed by Google as manager of their Project Zero. [1] [2]

Hawkes has been credited with finding dozens of flaws in computer software, such as within Adobe Flash, [1] Microsoft Office, [1] [3] Apple's iOS [4] and the Linux kernel. [5] [6] His role was acknowledged, for instance, in an Adobe 2015 security bulletin, which announced updates that addressed critical vulnerabilities that allowed hackers to take control of the affected system. [7] In 2019, he reported two vulnerabilities that could allow hackers to tap iPhone microphones and spy on calls. [8]

Before Hawkes became part of Project Zero, he was first part of the Google team tasked with the security of Google's product launches. [9] Hawkes regularly publishes research on his works, particularly on vulnerability analysis and software exploitation such as novel heap exploitation techniques on Windows. [9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Greenberg, Andy (15 July 2014). "Meet 'Project Zero,' Google's Secret Team of Bug-Hunting Hackers". Wired.com . Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  2. ↑ "Ben Hawkes". usenix.org. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  3. ↑ Nichols, Shaun (9 June 2015). "It's 2015 and hackers can hijack your Windows PC if you watch a web video". The Register . Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  4. ↑ Bock, Ken. "Jailbreak Exploit for iOS 10.1.1 to be Released Next Week". The Country Caller. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  5. ↑ Nestor, Marius. "Canonical Patches Multiple Kernel Vulnerabilities in All Supported Ubuntu OSes". softpedia. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  6. ↑ Nestor, Marius. "Canonical Patches Multiple OpenSSH Vulnerabilities in Supported Ubuntu OSes". softpedia. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  7. ↑ "Adobe Security Bulletin". helpx.adobe.com. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  8. ↑ Gatlan, Sergiu (8 February 2019). "Apple Patched Two Actively Exploited Zero-Days in iOS 12.1.4". BleepingComputer. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  9. 1 2 "Ben Hawkes | USENIX". www.usenix.org. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
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