Defcon

Expect some chaos this week in Las Vegas. Expect some surprises. If you're attending, expect a hangover. But also look out for some interesting security stories on these five big themes.

An experiment that called for creating a fake social networking personality managed to snare even seasoned security veterans.

A U.S. District Court judge on Tuesday dissolved a gag order against a trio of MIT students who said they found flaws in the Massachusetts transit authority's ticketing system.

Before Sherri Davidoff flew out to Defcon this year, she made sure to cover up the "Global Hacking Permit 230291" sticker on her laptop with a photo of two adorable puppies. She figured it might help things go a little more smoothly as she ventured to fly out to this week's hacker convention in Las Vegas without using any ID.

A U.S. District Court judge ordered the cancellation of a Defcon conference talk scheduled for Sunday that would have detailed flaws in the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority electronic ticketing system.

Rick Hill won't say where he launched his "wardriving" balloon on Friday, but he will tell you that it got a pretty good look at about 370 wireless networks, while scanning up and down the Las Vegas Strip.