Top 10 of Black Hat and Defcon

1. Secure Socket Layer

Secure Socket Layer (SSL) security is now key to the global economy. As researcher Dan Kaminsky put it, SSL is what persuades millions of internet users to hand over their credit card details and engage in e-commerce. That's why his paper on how to crack it was the best attended talk of the show.

Kaminsky and his partners Len Sassaman and Meredith Patterson showed how SSL could be subverted by a 'man in the middle' attack. Another researcher, Moxie Marlinspike, showed another attack vector on the technology, even more elegant than the first. Not surprisingly, both talks were packed out, so much so that every available inch of floor space was taken and people were crowding round the doorways trying to get a look.

Thankfully, the industry has rallied round to deal with the issue, but it was the highlight (or low-light for the security-paranoid) of the show.