Hackers took down Apple’s iPhone and Safari browser, Microsoft’s Internet Explore 8 (IE8) and Mozilla’s Firefox within minutes at this week’s Pwn2Own contest, reports “Computerworld” (http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9174078/iPhone_Safari_IE8_Firefox_all_fall_on_day_one_of_Pwn2Own?taxonomyId=17).

The two-man team of Vincenzo Iozzo and Ralf-Philipp Weinmann exploited the iPhone in under five minutes, said a spokeswoman for 3Com TippingPoint, the security company that sponsored the contest. The pair also walked away with US$15,000 in cash, a record prize for the challenge, adds “Computerworld.”

Iozzo, an Italian college student, works for Zynamics, a company headed by noted researcher Thomas Dullien. Weinmann is a post-doctoral researcher at the Laboratory of Algorithms, Cryptology and Security at the University of Luxembourg.