Google's new Pixel series seems to have a severe security loophole, as it got hacked within 60 seconds by a Chinese white-hat hacker group, Qihoo 360, at the globally-acclaimed PwnFest hacking fest in Seoul during the weekend.
Qihoo 360 reportedly exploited zero-day vulnerability to break the security blanket of the Google Pixel series phones and remotely install a malware to access all the multimedia files and sensitive information.
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As part of the demonstration, Qihoo 360 used the exploit to launch Google Play Store and then opened the mobile version of Google Chrome browser before displaying a message that read — "Pwned by 360 Alpha Team."
This fete by Qihoo 360 fetched them a reward of $128,000.
Should Google Pixel series device owners be worried?
As of now, Google Pixel series device owners need not worry at all, as Qihoo 360 is an ethical hacker team. They use their skill set to find flaws in software and report them to their respective companies to earn rewards.
That being said, it's quite unusual for a company of such repute to not have strict measures to detect such a big flaw in their device, which carries a hefty price-tag.
Google fans hope the search engine giant will immediately set up a team to figure out ways to fix the issue, before unethical hackers find their way to it.
Qihoo 360 had earlier won a total cash prize of $520,000 for finding vulnerabilities in Microsoft Edge browser and Adobe Flash software as well.
