All eyes in the information security world will be on Las Vegas this week as the desert city plays host to Def CON 14 and the Black Hat briefings.

Last year's DEF CON will be most remembered for the controversy over the presentation on security vulnerabilities in Cisco's networking kit by security researcher Michael Lynn.

This year's event promises to be just as interesting. "Johnny Cache" is down to talk about wireless LAN device driver exploits. The attack creates a means to seize control of a target computer even if someone is not connected to a wireless network at the time.

Lukas Grunwald will give a practical demonstration on hacking new RFID Technologies used for dual-interfaces cards, such as within credit cards and passports.

Another scheduled talk that caught our eye was one on hacking into enterprise networks via a Blackberry, appropriately entitled Blackjacking.

These talks, and many more, will take place at the Riviera Hotel, Las Vegas from 4-6 August.

But before DEF CON, the world's largest annual hacker convention, comes the Black Hat Briefings, its more respectable security sibling where hackers traditionally rub shoulders with technology executives and Feds.

A few topics at Black Hat caught our eye including: a presentation by SPI Dynamics on using RSS feeds to deliver exploits; an attack on VoIP security FUD, entitled Hacking VoIP Exposed; and the intriguingly titled Subverting Vista Kernel For Fun And Profit.

Black Hat takes place at Caesars Palace on Wednesday and Thursday this week. ®