After Malware Scare, Apple Makes First Appearance at Black Hat Conference

Apple will make its first appearance at computer security conference Black Hat on Thursday when Dallas De Atley, Manager of the Platform Security team at the company, takes the stage to talk about key security technologies in iOS.

Typically absent for security conferences, the move is a significant one, and one that shows Apple realizes that its operating system is vulnerable and that the company could benefit from the input of a group of people who have the main goal of revealing those vulnerabilities.

[More from Mashable: Design the Steve Jobs Monument Coming to Russia]

The first iOS malware app was confirmed earlier this month. Called "Find and Call” the app would have users upload all of their contact information to a server that would them spam all of their contacts with messages that appeared to come from the victim’s phone.

Hackers have started to pay more attention to the OSX platform. Previously thought to be free from viruses and attacked, Apple computers have started to see a rise in malicious software attacks.

[More from Mashable: Apple’s iPhone Sales Fall, Dragging Down Results]

SEE ALSO: 3 Ways To Protect Your Mac From Malware

Black Hat has been going on for the past 15 years. The conference brings together thought leaders from different facets of the information security worlds – everyone from corporate and government employees to academic and underground researchers – to help attempt to “define tomorrow’s security landscape.”

Since its initial conference in 1997, Black Hat has expanded its conference from a single event each year in Las Vegas to a series of conferences around the world in locations such as Abu Dhabi, Barcelona and Washington DC.

Microsoft first made an appearance at the conference in 1998, and Google took the stage in 2010. While most of the speakers at the Black Hat conference have a detailed description of their planned discussion topic, Apple’s description merely says it will “discuss key security technologies in iOS.”

The conferences are vendor-neutral and bring together some of he brightest and most prestigious names in the space for briefings as well as hands-on, high-intensity, multi-day trainings provided by some of the most respected experts in the world. Attendees can also receive formal certifications while attending the conference.

What do you think about Apple participating in the Black Hat conference? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

[via Bloomberg]

This story originally published on Mashable here.