Preview of Black Hat USA 2010

LAS VEGAS — Security exploits are made public throughout the year, but no week is more prolific in generating details of vulnerabilities, exploits and potential threats than the week of the Black Hat USA security conference here in Las Vegas at Caesar’s Palace Hotel and Casino.

For many in the business of IT security, hardware, software and online services, the annual security event is surrounded by an ominous air of anticipation as researchers prepare to unveil new security tools, research and advisories about nearly every category of enterprise technology.

The event has grown so prominent that this year there will also be a separate, unaffiliated event called BSides, located down the strip from Black Hat and occurring at the same time. BSides, born out of speaker rejections from the Black Hat USA 2009 event, is set to host discussions on topics that include PHP, VxWorks and Twitter security vulnerabilities.

But Bsides won’t be the only venue where 2009’s taboo subjects are now being brought to the fore. Among the big sessions at this year’s Black Hat USA event is a talk that had originally been prepared for the 2009 event: security researcher Barnaby Jack’s research into how ATM machines are at risk of falling prey to an attack that could “jackpot” them. Jack’s 2009 presentation on the same subject was pulled from the 2009 event after ATM vendors pressured his then-employer, Juniper Networks, into canceling his talk. This time around, however, Jack is working for security research firm IOactive and so far, all indications suggest that his presentation will go on as planned.

Read the rest at eSecurityplanet.