Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
February 2011
From ACM TechNews
Informatics Students Discover, Alert Facebook to Threat Allowing Access to Private Data, Bogus Messaging
Facebook has repaired a security vulnerability discovered by Indiana University doctoral students Rui Wang and Zhou Li, which allowed malicious Web sites to find a visitor's real name, access their private data, and post misinformation…
From ACM TechNews
DARPA Seeks Security Expertise From a Nontraditional Source: the Hacker Community
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recently launched the Cyber Fast Track program, which will reward security research done quickly and inexpensively, criteria designed to attract nontraditional developers…
From ACM TechNews
Better Software Design for Planes, Trains and Cars
University of Southampton researchers are developing RODIN, an open source software toolkit aimed at helping the embedded software industry to model and design products.
From ACM News
Nypd Planning to Use Facial-Recognition Technology to Match Mug Shots to Suspect Videos
The NYPD is about to start using digital technology to match video images of people at crime scenes to mug shots on file, police sources said.
From ACM Opinion
What Is Artificial Intelligence?
In the category "What Do You Know?," for $1 million: This four-year-old upstart the size of a small R.V. has digested 200 million pages of data about everything in existence and it means to give a couple of the world’s quickest…
From ACM News
Google Executive Emerges as Key Figure in Revolt
More than a week after his mysterious disappearance in Egypt, Google executive and political activist Wael Ghonim will be released from government detention on Monday, according to his family and a prominent businessman.
From ACM News
Proposal for Cyber War Rules of Engagement
The world needs cyber war "Rules of Engagement" to cope with potentially devastating cyber weapons, Russian and US experts will tell world leaders at a security conference on Friday.
From ACM TechNews
New Malware Records Data From Cell Phones
Indiana University researchers have developed Soundminer, a smartphone Trojan Horse virus that can record and steal conversations, keypad sounds, credit card numbers, and bank account information. The researchers developed the…
From ACM TechNews
Eu Warns It Lags Behind in Global Innovation Race
The European Union's scientific and industrial innovation efforts lag far behind the United States and Japan, prompting the EU Commission to call for measures to promote private investment and greater business engagement in the…
From ACM TechNews
Simulating Worst-Case Scenarios
Johns Hopkins University recently launched the Center for Advanced Modeling (CAM) in the Social, Behavioral and Health Sciences, which will focus on advanced computer simulation and modeling technology.
From ACM TechNews
A Matter of Timing: New Strategies For Debugging Electronics
University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Azadeh Davoodi is studying solutions for timing errors, which are electronic bugs that can occur after a chip is fabricated and can cause components to slow and take longer to execute…
From ACM News
No Easy Fixes as Internet Runs Out of Addresses
Like a prairie with no more vacant land to homestead or a hip area code with no more cellphone numbers, the pool of available numeric internet addresses has been completely allocated as of Thursday (.pdf).
From ACM News
Fifa to Test 10 Goal-Line Technology Systems
The FIFA rule-making panel will study the results from 10 different goal-line technology systems being tested to help referees make decisions.
From ACM News
Hackers Harness Microsoft's Kinect For Business and Pleasure
Gamers and hackers could control the office as well as games with Microsoft's Kinect.
From ACM TechNews
Pioneering Research Aims to Make the Internet Faster
Researchers at the universities of Southampton and Essex are working on the Photonics HyperHighway project, which aims to develop new technologies that can make broadband Internet 100 times faster.
From ACM TechNews
CS Pioneer Knuth Releases Long-Awaited Textbook
Computer science pioneer Donald Knuth has released the "The Art of Computer Programming, Volume 4A, The Combinatorial Algorithms, Part 1," the first part of volume four of his seminal "Art of Computer Programming" book series…
From ACM News
NIST Issues Final Version of Full Virtualization Security Guidelines
NIST has issued the final version of its recommendations for securely configuring and using full computing virtualization technologies.
From ACM TechNews
md Advance Lights Possible Path to Creating Next-Gen Computer Chips
University of Maryland researchers recently made tiny integrated circuits using visible light, a major breakthrough that could allow computer manufacturers to make smaller, faster, and cheaper computer chips.
From ACM TechNews
DHS to Invest $40 Million on Cybersecurity Research
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will invest $40 million on cybersecurity research areas in fiscal 2011 in support of the Comprehensive National Cyber Initiative.
From ACM News
The Technology Behind Super Bowl Xlv and Cowboys Stadium
Super Bowl attendees will experience impressive technology and some new mobile apps.
From ACM News
No More Ipv4 Addresses
Asian registry snares last two address blocks, sparks automatic depletion of the free pool.
From ACM News
Cloud Computing at Nist: Two New Draft Documents and a Wiki
NIST has issued two new draft documents on cloud computing for public comment and set up a new NIST Cloud Computing Collaboration site to enable two-way communication on the topic.
From ACM News
Google Offers Virtual Gallery Tours
Internet giant Google unveiled a new Website that allows virtual tours of some of the world's most famous art galleries.
From ACM TechNews
I, Algorithm: A New Dawn For Artificial Intelligence
The field of artificial intelligence (AI) is undergoing a revival, spurred by probabilistic programming that merges classic AI's logical principles with the power of statistics and probability.
From ACM TechNews
The Science of Bike-Sharing
Tel Aviv University researchers are developing a mathematical model to help new urban bike-sharing systems operate more efficiently. Bike-sharing systems have gained popularity in European cities and are being studied for potential…
From ACM TechNews
National Competition Puts High Schoolers to the Cyber Warrior Test
Cyber Foundations is a cybersecurity competition for high school students launched by the U.S. Cyber Challenge and the SANS Institute. The contest will help identify students with the skills to pursue advanced education and…
From ACM TechNews
Researchers Provide Insight Into the Future of How We Understand Social Networking
University of Minnesota researchers have found that analyzing social networks can provide insight on aspects of social interactions, including the emergence or decline of leadership, changes in trust over time, and mobility within…
From ACM TechNews
White House Launches Startup America
The Obama administration recently launched the Startup America initiative, which will involve government agencies and private-sector programs to train, mentor, and fund entrepreneurs, with the goal of improving high-growth entrepreneurship…
From ACM News
Was Egypt Oversold as Top Offshoring Spot?
Before Egypt turned off the Internet, the country had received increasingly high marks from leading analysis firms as a promising offshore outsourcing destination, despite the nation's political risk.
From ACM News
Report: Efforts to Secure Nation
The official government cybersecurity standards for the electric power grid fall far short of even the most basic security standards observed by noncritical industries, according to a new audit.