For fifteen years, computer hackers have gathered in Las Vegas for the Black Hat Conference. The general manager of the Black Hat C onference, Trey Ford, has confirmed that for the first time ever Apple will be attending this year’s show, as well as giving a presentation on iOS security.
Dallas De Atley, Manager of Apple’s Platform Security, will be doing the presentation. In it, he will discuss key security technologies in iOS, which is the operating system for iPhones and iPads.
Apple’s attendance at the Black Hat conference this year is a pretty big deal because in the past few years Apple products have not been able to live up to their reputation of being hack-proof. Apple’s growing success has made it a target for hackers everywhere. Hackers have been finding bugs in the iPhone since it first came out in 2007 and more than 600,000 Macs were infected earlier this year, the first major software attack targeting Apple computers in some time.
Apple’s security researchers have been said to be present during other Black Hat conferences and the closest anyone has ever come to see Apple take the stage was in 2008. According to Ford, a group of Apple insiders were scheduled to speak about the company’s security-response team but it was soon canceled when Apple’s marketing department found out.
Ford explained, “Bottom line – no one at Apple speaks without marketing approval. Apple will be at Black Hat 2012, and marketing is on board.”
There is a short outline of what De Atley will discuss during his presentation on the Black Hat website, but other than that little is known about the details of his talk. It should be interesting.