The "war" between Pwn2Own and Pwnhack.com began in 2010, when the Pwnhack.com team announced their intention to create a rival competition to Pwn2Own. The two sides engaged in a series of online debates, with Pwn2Own's organizers accusing Pwnhack.com of attempting to undermine the legitimacy of Pwn2Own, while Pwnhack.com's founders argued that their platform offered a more open and meritocratic approach to hacking competitions.