Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
November 2021
From ACM TechNews
EU Pharmaceutical Giants Run Vulnerable Apps, Fail to Use Encryption in Login Forms
New research warns 80% of the European Union's top pharmaceutical companies are "critically exposed" to cyberattack due to poor security postures.
From ACM News
Can a Free Internet Survive?
Internet freedom is eroding on two fronts: the sheer number of efforts to block access to legitimate information, and the level of sophistication used.
From ACM News
Samsung Picks Texas Site for Advanced U.S. Chip Plant
Korean giant picks Taylor, just outside existing Austin base.
From ACM News
The Pentagon's $82 Million Super Bowl of Robots
Inside a three-year competition that raises the question: How long until humans are obsolete?
From ACM News
Iranian Hackers Are Going After U.S. Critical Infrastructure
A hacking group is targeting a broad range of organizations, taking advantage of vulnerabilities that have been patched but not yet updated.
From ACM News
Smithsonian African American Museum Launches Online Interactive Access
The new 'Searchable Museum' will bring a trove of artifacts, stories, and images to the Internet.
From ACM News
We’re Making the Facebook Papers Public. Here’s Why and How
Independent experts from NYU, UMass Amherst, Columbia, Marquette, and the ACLU are partnering with Gizmodo to responsibly publish this historic leak.
From ACM TechNews
You Should See Her in a Crown. Now You Can See Her Face.
Joana Bruno at Spain's Autonomous University of Barcelona digitally replicated the faces of 36 people buried at the ancient European settlement of La Almoloya.
From ACM TechNews
Early Warning System Model Predicts Cancer Patients' Deterioration
A new machine learning predictive model for hospitalized cancer patients integrates heterogeneous data in electronic health records.
From ACM TechNews
U.K., U.S. Join Forces to Strike Back in Cyberspace
The U.S. and U.K. will collaborate to strike back against mutual adversaries engaging in malicious cyber-activities.
From ACM TechNews
Robot Waiters Take Iraq's Mosulites Back to the Future
Two robot waiters serve diners at the White Fox restaurant in Mosul, Iraq.
From ACM TechNews
This Tool Protects Your Private Data While You Browse
The SugarCoat tool developed by researchers at the University of California, San Diego and Brave Software can better protect users' private data as they browse the Web.
From ACM News
Amazon's Dark Secret: It Has Failed to Protect Your Data
For years, the retail giant has handled your information less carefully than it handles your packages.
From ACM News
AI Favors White Men Under 40
Publicly available language models systematically favor the language of young White men and discriminate in particular against young, non-White men.
From ACM TechNews
2021 ACM Gordon Bell Prize Awarded to Team Achieving Real-Time Simulation of Random Quantum Circuit
ACM has named a team of Chinese researchers to receive the 2021 ACM Gordon Bell Prize for simulating a random quantum circuit in real time on a supercomputer.
From ACM TechNews
Robots Can Use Their Own Whirring to Echolocate, Avoid Collisions
Robots can navigate and avoid collisions using the sounds they produce through echolocation as bats do.
From ACM TechNews
What Went Wrong With Zillow? A Real Estate Algorithm Derailed Its Big Bet
Real estate firm Zillow Group had looked to its digital home-flipping business Zillow Offers to lead its growth in the future, but that will not happen.
From ACM TechNews
Can a Machine Learn Morality?
Morality is a thorny issue for machines, as scientists learned in testing Delphi, a system programmed to make moral judgments.
From ACM News
Insurers Cut Cyber Cover as Ransomware Losses Surge
Insurance firms are worried about profits as ransomware gangs become more sophisticated.
From ACM News
Ford, GM Step Into Chip Business
Detroit's two biggest car companies are looking to align with computer chip makers to develop and potentially manufacture chips.
From ACM News
IBM Says Quantum Chip Could Beat Standard Chips in Two Years
IBM said new techniques for building the chip eventually will produce more qubits, when combined with advances in the quantum computer's refrigeration and control systems.
From ACM News
Superconducting Silicon-Photonic Chip Developed for Quantum Communication
The researchers resolved a long-standing challenge in quantum optics.
From ACM News
New York Mayor-Elect Says Schools Should Teach About Cryptocurrency
The comments come days after mayor-elect Eric Adams said he would accept his first few paychecks as New York City's mayor in Bitcoin.
From ACM News
Ford Steps Into the Chips Business
The automaker and GlobalFoundries have agreed to develop, and potentially produce, semiconductors in U.S. under a strategic pact.
From ACM News
Apple's Plan to Scan Handset Images Stopped Before It Started
When Apple announced its plan to scan iCloud Photos for child pornography, privacy groups were quick to condemn it.
From ACM TechNews
Using AI to Prevent Blood Clots, Strokes
A new artificial intelligence technique can identify possible atrial fibrillation, which can lead to blood clots and strokes.
From ACM TechNews
Drone Startup Plans Drug Deliveries to Homes in Salt Lake City
California drone startup Zipline has signed a service agreement with Utah's Intermountain Healthcare to deliver medicine and other supplies to its Salt Lake City patients.
From ACM TechNews
BotenaGo Botnet Targets Millions of IoT Devices with 33 Exploits
AT&T researchers found the BotenaGo malware botnet uses 33 exploits to attack millions of routers, modems, network attached storage, and Internet of Things devices.
From ACM TechNews
'Hooking' Online Shoppers Is About More Than Popularity
New algorithms were designed to better engage online shoppers by ranking items using a combination of popularity and variety.
From ACM News
Visions of a U.S. Computer Chip Boom Have Cities Hustling
Many local governments see a silver lining in the shortage of semiconductor chips that has contributed to a slowdown in the global economy.