The computer hacking community is gearing up for its own version of the annual Oscars, with two notorious hacker groups and industry heavyweight WikiLeaks tipped to get the top honours.
The Pwnie Awards 2011 or "Pwnies," ceremony scheduled to be held on 3 August at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, US will recognize those hackers who most deeply impacted the community this year.
Nominees for the Pwnie Awards 2011 include hacking groups Anonymous, LulzSec, WikiLeaks and Stuxnet, the virus responsible for "pwning", or owning, Iran’s nuclear systems.
The awards will be given in eight categories which include Pwnie for Best Server-Side Bug, Pwnie for Best Client-Side Bug, Pwnie for Best Privilege Escalation Bug, Pwnie for Most Innovative Research, Lamest Vendor Response, Pwnie for Best Song, Pwnie for Most Epic FAIL, Pwnie for Epic Ownage.
Sony and EMC’s RSA Security division are expected to be recognized during the annual award ceremony, for the dubious distinction of having fallen victim to hackers.
Winners will receive a Hasbro Inc "My Little Pony" figurine, painted gold, at the ceremony.
LulzSec has been nominated for "hacking everyone," according to the Pwnies website and victims include Fox News, Nintendo, the NHS, the US Senate and the CIA.
Anonymous has been nominated for hacking into the email accounts of security firm HBGary Federal, then publishing the emails of its executives on the Web.
The other nominee in the category is the team of WikiLeaks, for publishing thousands of secret US government cables, and Bradley Manning, the US Army soldier who allegedly stole the material from classified computers.
RSA Security has been nominated in the category of "Lamest Vendor Response."
