Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
December 2020
From ACM News
Scope of Russian Hack Becomes Clear: Multiple U.S. Agencies Were Hit
The Pentagon, intelligence agencies, nuclear labs, and Fortune 500 companies use software found to have been compromised by Russian hackers. The sweep of stolen data is still being assessed.
From ACM News
DHS is 3rd Federal Agency Hacked in Major Russian Cyberespionage Campaign
A spokesman said the Department of Homeland Security is aware of reports of a breach and is currently investigating the matter.
From ACM News
8 Leading Women In The Field Of AI
There are many brilliant women at the forefront of artificial intelligence today.
From ACM News
Russian Hackers Broke Into Federal Agencies, U.S. Officials Suspect
In one of the most sophisticated and perhaps largest hacks in more than five years, email systems were breached at the Treasury and Commerce Departments. Other breaches are under investigation.
From ACM News
Norman Abramson, Pioneer Behind Wireless Networks, Dies at 88
His ALOHAnet, designed a half-century ago in Hawaii, was a precursor to the technology used in today's smartphones and home WiFi networks.
From ACM TechNews
Amazon Wants to Train 29 Million People to Work in the Cloud
Amazon plans to help train 29 million people worldwide to work in the cloud by 2025.
From ACM TechNews
This Robot Can Rap—Really
A Georgia Institute of Technology music technologist modified an improvisational musical robot called Shimon to create lyrics and perform rap in real time.
From ACM TechNews
The Smellicopter: An Obstacle-Avoiding Drone that Uses Live Moth Antenna to Seek Out Smells
An autonomous flying drone called the Smellicopter uses a live antenna from a moth to navigate toward smells.
From ACM TechNews
Bad News for Fake News: Rice Research Helps Combat Social Media Misinformation
Rice University researchers have invented a more efficient method for preventing the online spread of misinformation on social media.
From ACM TechNews
'Accessible Christmas,' an Application That Allows Blind People to Enjoy Christmas Lights
Visually impaired people can enjoy Christmas lights in Madrid through a mobile application from researchers at Spain's Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.
From ACM News
AI Needs to Face Up to its Invisible-worker Problem
Machine-learning models are trained by low-paid online gig workers. They're not going away—but we can change the way they work, says Saiph Savage.
From ACM News
Smarter Traffic Lights, Calmer Commuters
Advances in technology may come to a corner near you, easing traffic and possibly helping the environment.
From ACM TechNews
Hackers-For-Hire Group Develops 'PowerPepper' In-Memory Malware
Kaspersky cybersecurity researchers revealed a previously undiscovered in-memory Windows backdoor for executing remote malware and stealing data.
From ACM TechNews
Drones Are Poised to Reshape Home Design
A rethink of home design may be needed to accommodate remote drone delivery, which could reconfigure entire neighborhoods to establish designated drone airspace and traffic patterns.
From ACM TechNews
Split Wave: Team Develops Component for Neuromorphic Computer
Researchers have demonstrated a new neuromorphic computing approach.
From ACM News
Consumers Increasingly Touch on Contactless Payments
The ability to pay touch-free during the Coronavirus pandemic is persuading more consumers and retailers to go contactless.
From ACM News
'A Damn Stupid Thing to Do'—the Origins of C
Today, C may be a lingua franca among programmers. This is its (abridged) history.
From ACM News
Facebook Hit With Antitrust Lawsuits by FTC, State Attorneys General
Claims target social-media giant's past acquisitions, tactics against competitors.
From ACM TechNews
Silicon Valley's Next Goal Is 3D Maps of the World--Made by Us
Ordinary online users are being conscripted by Silicon Valley technology companies to produce three-dimensional digital maps of the world.
From ACM TechNews
In Battle Against Hackers, Companies Try to Deceive the Deceivers
Companies are attempting to trap hackers by enticing them with deception technology.
From ACM TechNews
Researchers Find Even 'Fair' Hiring Algorithms Can Be Biased
Researchers at Harvard University and Germany's Technische Universität Berlin analyzing how "fair" ranking algorithms affect gender uncovered inconsistent ranking of job candidates.
From ACM TechNews
Stanford Researchers Study Trust in Autonomous Products
Stanford University engineers investigating how altering peoples' moods affect their trust in a smart speaker were surprised by their results.
From ACM TechNews
Coronavirus Apps Show Promise but Prove a Tough Sell
Despite pilot studies demonstrating that smartphone applications can slow Covid-19 transmission, buy-in from people and states is lacking.
From ACM TechNews
Critical Flaws in Millions of IoT Devices May Never Get Fixed
Internet of Things security firm Forescout uncovered 33 flaws in seven open source TCP/IP stacks that potentially leave millions of IoT devices vulnerable.
From ACM News
Spies with Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service Believed to have Hacked a top American Cybersecurity Firm, Stolen its Sensitive Tools
"We are witnessing an attack by a nation with top-tier offensive capabilities," FireEye CEO Kevin Mandia said in a blog post.
From ACM News
Seeing Past Copper
Optical interconnects take aim at Moore’s law.
From ACM TechNews
MIT ML Models Find Gaps in Coverage by Moderna, Pfizer, Other Warp Speed Covid-19 Vaccines
Covid-19 vaccines from Moderna, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and others in Phase III clinical trials may not be as effective in people of Black or Asian genetic ancestry as they are in white people.
From ACM TechNews
Police in Mississippi Want Access to Live Home Security Video, Alarming Privacy Advocates
Officials in Jackson, MS, are expanding police surveillance by permitting live feeds from private security cameras to be sent to the city's real-time command center.
From ACM TechNews
App Aims to Reduce Deaths From Opioid Overdose
A Philadelphia-based pilot study tested an application for volunteers, which alerts them to opioid overdoses requiring naloxone.
From ACM News
Computer Science Professor, Postdoc Launch Online Database on History of Slavery
"Enslaved: Peoples of the Historical Slave Trade," a database collecting archives and entries documenting the lives of those who were enslaved, owned slaves, or participated in slave trading, launched on Dec. 1.