Mobile phones have defied misconceptions about security concerns at a recent hacking competition. According to VnuNet.com, the contest - dubbed pwn2own - saw hackers fail to crack the security of any of the mobile devices put to the test.

Most mainstream browsers proved easy pickings for the computer experts however. The contest, organised by security systems company TippingPoint, seeks to expose security flaws in popular software packages and devices and rewards successful competitors with cash or goods prizes.

This year saw hackers successfully penetrate fully patched Internet Explorer, Firefox and safari browsers with the help of malware embedded in the web page. Google will be pleased to note that its Chrome contender remained uncracked. The competition featured a new prize this year, as TippingPoint offered 10,000 US dollars to anyone to managed to hack one of five mobile handsets - a cross-section of the smartphone market including the Apple iPhone, RIM's Blackberry and other smartphones running the Windows Mobile, Symbian and Android operating systems - via their browser.

As no hackers were successful the prize remained unclaimed. VnuNet.com reports that Terri Forslof, a spokesman for TippingPoint, said: "The mobile platform is limited by both memory and processing power. What that generally amounts to is that the vulnerabilities do exist, but actually exploiting them is complicated and unpredictable.

"There are additional variables which can be show stoppers just between the hardware manufacturer’s themselves, or the carrier network the phone is associated with." The competition is to be repeated next year at the company's annual conference.