Embedded vulnerabilities and Apple flaws on Black Hat agenda

A number of high-profile security flaws are scheduled to be unveiled and discussed at this year's Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas, as IT security continues to dominate the headlines.

The presentations will include vulnerabilities in Apple hardware, possible attack vectors in Scada embedded hardware, and tricks for compromising mobile platforms such as Android.

Researcher Charlie Miller made headlines earlier this summer when he hinted at a vulnerability in Apple hardware which could render a MacBook or MacBook Pro notebook battery useless.

Miller is set to discuss how a flaw in the chips which control the battery can be compromised to permanently put a battery pack out of commission.

Researchers are also preparing to discuss vulnerabilities which could allow attacks on embedded systems using Siemens hardware. The presentation will be delivered by NSS Labs researcher Dillon Beresford.

Embedded systems were a hot topic last year, when researcher Barnaby Jacks exploited a vulnerability in ATM hardware to cause the banking machines to spew cash.

Some vendors are already looking to make news at Black Hat. Zettaset will unveil its Security Data Warehouse platform, while Zscaler has plans to disclose eye-opening research on vulnerabilities in connected devices.

Net neutrality also looks to be a hot topic, and a Wednesday afternoon press conference to discuss the matter has already been scheduled.

News is made every year at Black Hat, but the 2011 conference comes as the hacking community is fully in the public spotlight.

Hacking groups LulzSec and Anonymous are under investigation by police forces acros the world after a series of data breaches and denial-of-service attacks.

The groups have remained defiant in the face of police raids, most recently by waging a publicity campaign against PayPal and launching counter attacks aimed at law enforcement agencies in the US.