Hacked Vista notebook pulled from eBay auction

Vancouver (WA) - The man who hacked a notebook computer during the ConSecWest conference in Washington listed the item for sale on eBay, saying the exploit of the operating system "is most likely still present."

However, after being up for just a few hours, the listing "has been removed or is no longer available," according to the former item page that now shows a listing error.

Shane Macaulay won the Fujitsu U810 laptop with Windows Vista as a prize for successfully cracking the code and exposing a vulnerability. It was part of a contest called "pwn 2 own" at ConSecWest. Apple and Linux laptops were also part of the event, and the only one remaining in tact is the Linux one.

When the listing first showed up, people questioned whether it would be allowed to stay on the auction site. eBay has rules against selling devices that could infect computers with a virus, and above that Macaulay signed a non-disclosure agreement to prevent any vulnerabilities from becoming public knowledge before the operating system manufacturers were made aware of the problem.

Macaulay reportedly brushed these concerns aside, saying to the Inquirer, "It’s my prize. I’m free to use it as I see fit," and also adding that he knows some people at eBay who he could convince to let the auction go through.

The bidding started at $0.01 and it is unclear how high the price got before the listing was pulled.