Pwn2Own is run by the ZeroDay Initiative and invites human ethical hackers around the world to find vulnerabilities in specific products.
Nearly $1.3m (£970,000) was awarded to hackers this year who collectively discovered 47 brand new hacking methods on various programmes, websites and software.
The flaws have all been reported to grateful companies which are now fixing them before criminals can find the same holes.
On day one of the contest, Chompie successfully demonstrated how to hack one system linked to Nvidia – winning $20,000.
But she then said she had to enter what she called “zombie hacker mode” to prepare for the next day.
“As soon as I won the first prize I ran back to my hotel room to keep working on the other one. I worked from 6pm til 6am and didn’t sleep,” she said.
It was worth it, and footage from the event shows her looking happy and tired on stage as she successfully hacked into a Linux based system to win $50,000.
Chompie described “zombie hacker mode” as being locked into research and testing for hours fuelled by energy drinks and adrenaline, often wearing a black hoodie.
“It’s not healthy,” she laughed, but she insisted it was necessary.
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