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
Google Tells Canada It Won't Pay 'Link Tax,' Will Pull News Links from Search
Canada requiring payments from tech to news orgs; similar bills pending in the U.S.
From ACM TechNews
Hackers Drain Bitcoin ATMs of $1.5 Million by Exploiting 0-Day Bug
General Bytes reported that over $1.5 million in bitcoin was drained from Internet-accessible wallets via its bitcoin ATMs by hackers that exploited a previously...
From ACM TechNews
Google's PaLM-E Generalist Robot Brain Takes Commands
Researchers at Google and Germany's Technical University of Berlin recently debuted PaLM-E, described as the largest visual-language model ever created.
From ACM TechNews
U.S. Air Force Successfully Tests AI-Controlled Jet Fighter
The U.S. Air Force said the X-62A VISTA (Variable Stability In-Flight Simulator Test Aircraft) autonomous jet fighter had 17 hours of flight testing.
From ACM TechNews
China Bans AI-Generated Media Without Watermarks
New regulations from China's Cyberspace Administration that go into effect Jan. 10, 2023, ban the creation of media using artificial intelligence without watermarks...
From ACM TechNews
Herzog, Žižek Become AI Bots Trapped in Endless Conversation
The Infinite Conversation website features a nonstop "chat" between artificial intelligence versions of German director Werner Herzog and Slovenian philosopher...
From ACM TechNews
Lost Something? Search 91.7 Million Files from the '80s, '90s, 2000s
A new website allows users to sift through 91.7 million computer files from CD-ROM releases and floppy discs dating back to the 1980s.
From ACM TechNews
Deepfake Audio Has a Tell
Researchers at the University of Florida can detect audio deepfakes by measuring acoustic and fluid dynamic distinctions between organic and synthetic voice samples...
From ACM News
Cops Wanted to Keep Mass Surveillance App Secret; Privacy Advocates Refused
Fog Reveal is "almost invisible" when attempting to search for it online.
From ACM TechNews
YouTube Content Creator Credentials Are Under Siege by YTStealer Malware
A researcher at security firm Intezer identified a new malware that can steal YouTube content creators' authentication credentials.
From ACM TechNews
Tesla Hack Gives Thieves Their Own Personal Key
Austrian security researcher Martin Herfurt has demonstrated that electric vehicle company Tesla's updated near-field communication key card can be hacked.
From ACM TechNews
'Tough to Forge' Digital Driver's License Actually Easy to Forge
Security researchers have found that the supposedly hard-to-counterfeit digital driver's licenses in use in New South Wales, Australia, actually can be altered...
From ACM TechNews
Some Top 100,000 Websites Collect Everything You Type--Before You Hit Submit
Researchers analyzed the top 100,000 websites and found a significant number record some or all of visitors' typewritten data.
From ACM TechNews
Your iOS App May Still Be Covertly Tracking You, Despite What Apple Says
Researchers at the U.K.’s University of Oxford found that iOS apps can still track users without explicit permission.
From ACM TechNews
Data-Harvesting Code in Mobile Apps Sends User Data to 'Russia's Google'
A researcher found that Yandex, known as "Russia's Google," embedded code in apps for mobile devices that allows data to be sent to servers in Russia.
From ACM TechNews
Self-Driving Waymo Trucks to Haul Loads Between Houston, Fort Worth
Waymo and trucking company JB Hunt have partnered to haul cargo loads autonomously between Houston and Fort Worth, TX.
From ACM TechNews
96% of U.S. Users Opt Out of App Tracking in iOS 14.5, Analytics Find
U.S. users have opted out of application tracking nearly all of the time following Apple's release of iOS 14.5 in April.
From ACM TechNews
Telegram Feature Exposes Your Precise Address to Hackers
Hackers can exploit the Telegram messenger application employed in Android devices and iPhones to pinpoint users' precise locations.
From ACM TechNews
Archaeologists with Drones Discover Pre-Columbian Earthworks in Kansas
Dartmouth College researchers discovered pre-Columbian earthworks in Kansas using drones equipped with LiDAR and infrared and thermal imaging.
From ACM TechNews