Communications of the ACM
Why the Simplex Method, at Age 75, is Still the Go-To Algorithm
Daniel A. Spielman and colleague Shang-hua Teng solved the mystery of the Simplex Method using a technique called smoothed analysis… From ACM NewsAn edited collection of advanced computing news from Communications of the ACM, ACM TechNews, other ACM resources, and news sites around the Web.
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What If Quantum Computers sed Hard Drives Made of Dna?
You've heard the hype: The quantum computer revolution is coming. Physicists say these devices will be fast enough to break every encryption method banks use today...
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How the Cia's Hacking Hoard Makes Everyone Less Secure
When Wikileaks yesterday released a trove of documents purporting to show how the CIA hacks everything from smartphones to PCs to smart televisions, the agency's...
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Medical Devices Are the Next Security Nightmare
Hacked medical devices make for scary headlines.
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Malware Lets a Drone Steal Data By Watching a Computer's Blinking Led
A few hours after dark one evening earlier this month, a small quadcopter drone lifted off from the parking lot of Ben-Gurion University in Beersheba, Israel.
From ACM TechNews
A Chip Flaw Strips Away Hacking Protections For Millions of Devices
The VUSec team at the Free University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands has demonstrated an exploit that undercuts a basic safeguard used in all modern operating...
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For the Next Election, Don't Recount the Vote. Encrypt It
Let's be honest: The 2016 election wasn’t a sterling display of American democracy.
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Monero, the Drug Dealer's Cryptocurrency of Choice, Is on Fire
For the cryptocurrency community, 2016 was a very good year.
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Darpa's Off-Roaders Ditch Windows For a Digital World View
Autonomous warriors may dominate the battlefield of tomorrow, but even those that still require human flesh will take on a robotic sheen. That shift could start...
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The Year Encryption Won
Between the revelations of mega-hacks of Yahoo and others, Russia's meddling in the US electoral system, and the recent spike in ransomware, it's easy to look at...
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Hacker Lexicon: What Is Perfect Forward Secrecy?
Encryption keeps your secrets, until it doesn't.
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How Humans Can Force the Machines to Play Fair
Cynthia Dwork is best known for inventing "differential privacy," a set of techniques that safeguard the privacy of individuals in a large database.
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Great. Now Even Your Headphones Can Spy on You
Cautious computer users put a piece of tape over their webcam.
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How to Block the Ultrasonic Signals You Didn't Know Were Tracking You
Dystopian corporte surveillance threats today come at us from all directions. Companies offer "always-on" devices that listen for our voice commands, and marketers...
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Your Dvr Didn't Take Down the Internet, Yet
Last week ended with a mid-level internet catastrophe. You may have noticed that for most of Friday popular sites like Netflix, Twitter, Spotify (and yes, WIRED)...
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Want to Know Julian Assange's Endgame? He Told You a Decade Ago
Amid a seemingly incessant deluge of leaks and hacks, Washington, DC staffers have learned to imagine how even the most benign email would look a week later on...
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How to Steal an AI
In the burgeoning field of computer science known as machine learning, engineers often refer to the artificial intelligences they create as "black box" systems:...
From ACM TechNews
Inside Google's Internet Justice League and Its AI-Powered War on Trolls
Online forums and social media platforms are havens for trolls and bullies who launch campaigns of harassment can lead to the self-censorship of the people they...
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How Police Trace Cellphones in Ieds Like the Ones in Nyc
A cellphone makes a convenient detonator for an improvised explosive device. But it's also one of the most conveniently trackable devices under the eye of American...
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How the Fbi Could Have Hacked the San Bernardino Shooter's Iphone
More than six months have passed since the FBI first ordered Apple to help the agency bypass the encryption on the iPhone 5c of Rizwan Syed Farook, an ISIS supporter...
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