Communications of the ACM
An edited collection of advanced computing news from Communications of the ACM, ACM TechNews, other ACM resources, and news sites around the Web.
From ACM News
Stuxnet Tricks Copied By Computer Criminals
Malicious code apparently used by governments to spy on, harass, and sabotage one another has grabbed headlines in recent years, yet the highly targeted nature...
From ACM TechNews
This Touch Screen Knows Your Touch
Rutgers University researchers have developed a device that could identify an individual user and rapidly switch a system's settings to adjust to the user, providing...
From ACM News
Hey, Hackers: Defense Is Sexy, Too
Pleasing the crowd at the Black Hat and Def Con computer security conferences that took place in Las Vegas last week is relatively easy: simply hop on stage and...
From ACM TechNews
A Computer Infection That Can Never Be Cured
French hacker Jonathan Brossard recently developed Rakshasa, software that can be hidden inside the hardware of a PC, creating a backdoor that would allow secret...
From ACM News
Nsa Boss Wants More Control Over the 'net
The U.S. Internet's infrastructure needs to be redesigned to allow the NSA to know instantly when overseas hackers might be attacking public or private infrastructure...
From ACM News
Gps Weakness Could Enable Mass Smartphone Hacking
Weaknesses in the technology that allows smartphone users to pinpoint themselves on a map, or check into restaurants and bars using apps such as Foursquare, could...
From ACM TechNews
The Latest Threat: A Virus Made Just For You
Georgia Tech's Paul Royal has shown that a newly refined technique could make automated analysis of malware nearly impossible, and he plans to reveal his work at...
From ACM News
What Facebook Knows
If Facebook were a country, a conceit that founder Mark Zuckerberg has entertained in public, its 900 million members would make it the third largest in the world...
From ACM News
The Antivirus Era Is Over
Two weeks ago today, computer security labs in Iran, Russia, and Hungary announced the discovery of Flame, "the most complex malware ever found," according to Hungary's...
From ACM News
How China Blocks the Tor Anonymity Network
The Tor Project is a free network run by volunteers that hides users locations and usage from surveillance and traffic analysis.
From ACM News
How a Web Link Can Take Control of Your Phone
A chilling demonstration to a small, packed room at the recent RSA security conference showed how clicking a single bad Web link while using a phone running Google's...
From ACM TechNews
Eavesdropping Antennas Can Steal Your Smart Phone's Secrets
Cryptography Research scientists have developed a method for a standard TV antenna, an amplifier, and specialized software to find the secret key being used by...
From ACM News
How a Web Link Can Take Control of Your Phone
A chilling demonstration to a small, packed room at the RSA security conference showed how clicking a single bad Web link while using a phone running Google's Android...
From ACM News
Defense Department Wants More Control Over the Internet
The U.S. Department of Defense may have funded the research that led to the Internet, but freewheeling innovation created the patchwork of privately owned technology...
From ACM News
Ultrafast Trades Trigger Black Swan Events Every Day, Say Econophysicists
On 6 May 2010, shares on U.S. financial markets suddenly dropped on average by around 10% but in over 300 stocks by more than 60%. Moments later the prices recovered...
From ACM News
Hacking Cars to Keep Them Safe
Tiffany Rad got interested in hacking cars because she wanted to drive her Land Rover off-road on rugged terrain without worrying about setting off the air bags...
From ACM News
Serious Flaw Emerges In Quantum Cryptography
The perfect secrecy offered by quantum mechanics appears to have been scuppered by a previously unknown practical problem, say physicists.
From ACM TechNews
Encrypting Pictures Using Chaotic Cellular Automata
Marina Jeaneth Machicao and colleagues at the University of San Paul in Brazil are using chaos to encrypt images. Their approach generates a pseudo-random signal...
From ACM News
Should We Fire the First Shot in a Cyberwar?
Military bureaucracies around the world are likely to see offensive capabilities as increasingly attractive in any cyberwar, suggests the head of the computer...
From ACM News