Communications of the ACM
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From BLOG@CACM
Most Smartphone Apps Are Spyware
Why does this flashlight app use an Internet connection? Why does this Bible quotes app want my location data? Why does this game want my contacts list?
From BLOG@CACM
Is the Computer Security Community Barking Up the Wrong Trees?
There's a big mismatch right now between what the data says about computer security vulnerabilities and what kind of research is being done and products offered...
From BLOG@CACM
Password Policies Are Getting Out of Control
At least 9 characters long. No repeated characters. At least 1 number, 1 special character, and 1 capital letter. Cannot be same as last 10 passwords. Must change...
From BLOG@CACM
Obama Administration Announces Landmark Global Internet Strategy
The White House this week announced a comprehensive global strategy document bringing multiple agencies together in an effort to emphasize their commitment to a...
From BLOG@CACM
Information Privacy: Changing Norms and Expectations
That picture of you at a family reunion, squinting into the sun, can rarely be delimited by a physical location once it is placed on the web. Instead, information...
From BLOG@CACM
Embracing Noise or Why Computer Scientists Should Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Errors
Precision is not required in everything or even most things. Failures are best handled by expecting them all the time, not treating them as exceptions. We should...
From BLOG@CACM
Why Have There Been So Many Security Breaches Recently?
We're only five months into this year, but there have been a large number of sensational security breaches. Why have there been so many, and what can we do about...
From BLOG@CACM
Let's Teach Malware When It's Ready: The Purpose of Undergrad CS
Ledin's call for teaching malware to all undergraduate students conflicts with my understanding of the purpose of an undergraduate CS degree.
From BLOG@CACM
Talking With PCAST
I told three stories at PCAST — The Google Story, Model Checking, and Machine Learning — as a way to illustrate the importance of sustained federal funding of basic...
From BLOG@CACM
A Tale of A Serious Attempt At P≠NP
This is a discussion of the recent claimed proof that P≠NP by Vinay Deolalikar.
From BLOG@CACM
Remembering Internet Dogs
An iconic cartoon by Peter Steiner, which appeared in The New Yorker in 1993, captured the nature of the nascent Internet. It shows a dog seated at a computer,...
From BLOG@CACM
CFP: Intelligent Transportation Systems
One of the goals of this years Computers Freedom and Privacy conference is to ask the question, "Can we be 'smart' and private?" Wednesday's panel onIntellegent...
From BLOG@CACM
CFP: Opening Plenary Privacy and Free Speech
The opening plenary of this year's Computers Freedom and Privacy Conference (CFP) had a decidedly business orientation. Titled "Privacy and Free Speech: It's Good...
From BLOG@CACM
Malvertisements Growing as Online Security Threat
Malvertisements are attempts to inject malware and scareware into advertisements, leveraging the reach that advertising networks have. This blog entry examines...
From BLOG@CACM
What Security Advice Should We Give?
Are people being rational when they ignore the security advice we give them? If so, what advice should we give them that they would not ignore?
From BLOG@CACM
Has the Spam War Been Won?
A decade ago, e-mail spam was a severe problem. Now, e-mail spam is barely noticeable. After years of battles between spam filters and spammers creating new tricks...
From BLOG@CACM
The Ghosts of Holiday Shopping: Past, Present and Future
In many parts of the western world, the frenzy of holiday shopping has reached its crescendo. With apologies to Charles Dickens, it is instructive to consider...
From BLOG@CACM
Designing Effective Warnings
Computer security warnings are something we all see everyday, but many people find them annoying and ignore them. What are better ways of designing warnings?
From BLOG@CACM
Designing Effective Interfaces For Usable Privacy and Security
I often cringe when I hear highly technical engineers talk about people. I usually hear broad generalizations tossed about, like "people are lazy, that's why they...
From BLOG@CACM