With temperatures hovering around 103 degrees (39 celsius) outside in Las Vegas, Black Hat USA 2013 kept over 7,000 security professionals cool inside Caesers Palace while they attended explosive talks, compelling vendor booths, Black Hat Arsenal demonstrations, and the 2013 Pwnie Awards.

Posing ominously in front of Black Hat USA 2013 signage at Ceasers Palace are Simon Carless (EVP, Black Hat) and Marco Pardi (President, Business Technology Events, UBM Tech).

Photo used with permission, courtesy of Black Hat Events.

This is not a standard Black Hat badge; this "Hacker" badge belongs to Nmap author Gordon "Fyodor" Lyon.

The Black Hat bookstore featured books such as x, x and x.

Photo used with permission, courtesy of Black Hat Events.

All areas of the Ceasers Palace conference center were dressed top to toe with Black Hat projections, banners and more.

Black Hat attendees are cautioned not to use ATM machines around the conference area for security reasons.

An estimated 7,000 high-level security experts are attending Black Hat this year.

Photo used with permission, courtesy of Black Hat Events.

For the opening keynote by NSA Director Keith Alexander, 3200 Black Hat attendees packed the room and around 1500 were sent to an overflow video room.

Read more in  NSA Director accused of lying to Congress at Black Hat USA 2013 keynote .

Photo used with permission, courtesy of Black Hat Events.

Just before the NSA Director's keynote, it was seen that eggs were being passed around the audience. The eggs were confiscated by security before the keynote began.

Read more in  NSA Director accused of lying to Congress at Black Hat USA 2013 keynote .

During his packed Black Hat USA keynote NSA Director Keith Alexander assured the crowd that the NSA's surveillance programs are lawful interception; attendees did not hesitate to shout "Bullshit."

Read more in  NSA Director accused of lying to Congress at Black Hat USA 2013 keynote .

Photo used with permission, courtesy of Black Hat Events.

Black Hat organizer Trey Ford onstage at the NSA keynote. After the General's keynote, Ford facilitated a question-and-answer session with the audience where the questions were pre-screened, and Ford cautioned the audience that the General had the option of declining to answer any question.

Read more in  NSA Director accused of lying to Congress at Black Hat USA 2013 keynote .

Photo used with permission, courtesy of Black Hat Events.

Three Georgia Tech hackers have revealed how to hack iPhones and iPads with malware imitating ordinary apps in under sixty seconds using a "malicious charger."

At a Wednesday, July 31 Black Hat press conference, the researchers revealed for the first time exactly how the USB charger they built can compromise iOS devices in less than a minute.

Read more in  Researchers reveal how to hack an iPhone in 60 seconds .

Billy Lau, Yeongjin Jang and Chengyu Song showed how they made an ordinary looking charger into a malicious vector for transmitting malware using an open source BeagleBoard, available for $125 (similar to a Raspberry Pi).

For the demo, the Facebook app was used as an example.

Within seconds of plugging in the charger, the Facebook app was invisibly removed from the device and seamlessly replaced with a Facebook app imitation with a malicious payload.

Apple responded by Wednesday evening saying it will issue a patch in its Fall iOS 7 update.

Read more in  Researchers reveal how to hack an iPhone in 60 seconds .

Lavish booths, costumes and plenty of giveaways made the Sponsor Hall an attraction.

Photo used with permission, courtesy of Black Hat Events.

At the Black Hat Arsenal, Researchers demoed bypassing a car’s security for less than 25 dollars, to analyzing smartphone penetration testing, performing web application security audits, and much more.

Photo used with permission, courtesy of Black Hat Events.

In the Black Hat Arsenal area, popular company Pwnie Express was a huge draw. The company launched its newest product at Black Hat this week, the Pwn Plug R2.

Photo used with permission, courtesy of Black Hat Events.

At the side of the Black Hat Sponsor Hall, cheeky data tracking and security company FileTrek ran a "Hero or villian?" vote (we'll be back tomorrow to see how conference attendees voted).

Its booth and cardboard cutout of Edward Snowden was situated directly across the aisle from Snowden's former government contractor employer, Booz Allen Hamilton. 

See also:

• Black Hat 2013: talks and panels 'hot list'
• Researchers reveal how to hack an iPhone in 60 seconds at Black Hat 2013
• NSA Director accused of lying to Congress at Black Hat USA 2013 keynote
• NSA Director Alexander Black Hat USA 2013 Keynote: Gallery