Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
January 2022
From ACM News
The Battle for the World's Most Powerful Cyberweapon
A Times investigation reveals how Israel reaped diplomatic gains from NSO's Pegasus spyware, a tool America itself purchased but is now trying to ban.
From ACM TechNews
Smartphone, MD: Going Viral
A smartphone application and laboratory kit can diagnose COVID-19, COVID variants, and flu virus infections.
From ACM TechNews
Solving Superconducting Mystery with Supercomputer Computations
A multi-institutional team of researchers has demonstrated that phonons contribute to superconductivity in copper-based materials.
From ACM TechNews
Picasso's Descendants to Sell More Than 1,000 NFTs Linked to Never-Before-Seen Ceramic Work
Pablo Picasso's descendants plan to auction off more than 1,000 digital pieces representing a previously unseen ceramic work by the Spanish artist.
From ACM TechNews
Physical Systems Perform ML Computations
Cornell University researchers have trained physical systems to execute generic machine learning computations.
From ACM TechNews
Bug Lurking for 12 Years Gives Attackers Root on Most Major Linux Distros
Polkit, a system-wide privilege manager for Unix-like operating systems, contains a 12-year-old memory-corruption vulnerability.
From ACM News
How Cookie Banners Backfired
An extensive digital privacy law aimed to give internet users more control over their data. Instead, experts say, it's created "almost a useless exercise."
From ACM News
It's Hard to Tell When the Crypto Bubble Will Burst, or If There Is One
Crypto prices are highly volatile, but die-hard enthusiasts believe prices will keep soaring in a world where traditional notions of value don't apply.
From ACM News
Automotive Lobbying Group Abandons the Term 'Self-Driving'
That's Tesla's mess to deal with.
From ACM News
Lego Robot with an Organic 'Brain' Learns to Navigate a Maze
The neuromorphic computing device solved the puzzle by working like an animal brain would.
From ACM TechNews
IRS Wants to Scan Your Face
By this summer, Americans wanting to access their Internal Revenue Service records online will be required to submit a facial video to confirm their identity.
From ACM TechNews
Robot Performs Keyhole Surgery on Pigs
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University programmed a robot to perform minimally invasive keyhole surgery on pigs.
From ACM TechNews
Booby-Trapped Sites Delivered Potent Backdoor Trojan to macOS Users
Security researchers have uncovered macOS malware that can be installed by exploits almost impossible for most users to detect.
From ACM TechNews
Software Is Crammed Full of Bugs. This 'Exciting' Project Could Banish Most of Them
Chip designer Arm has released a prototype development board based on the Capability Hardware Enhanced RISC Instructions (CHERI) architecture.
From ACM News
What Does a Forehand Winner Sound Like? Clink, Blip-Blip-Blip!
At the Australian Open tennis tournament, new technology is translating the movement of the ball into sounds to help blind and low-vision fans follow the action.
From ACM News
Why Is Silicon Valley Still Waiting for the Next Big Thing?
The tech industry has grown rich off big ideas developed more than a decade ago. New things like quantum computing and self-driving cars could take a while.
From ACM News
Facebook's Cryptocurrency Venture to Wind Down, Sell Assets
Diem Association is selling its technology to crypto-focused bank Silvergate Capital for $200 million.
From ACM News
Quantum Computers a Million Times Too Small to Hack Bitcoin
Bitcoin is theoretically vulnerable to hacking by quantum computers, but calculations show they would need to be a million times larger than those that exist today.
From ACM TechNews
Scientists Simulate 'Fingerprint' of Noise on Quantum Computer
Researchers developed a technique that creates a "fingerprint" of noise on a quantum computer, as seen by a simulation running on the machine.
From ACM TechNews
AI Model Helps Discover Causes of Motor Neuron Disease
A new machine learning model has identified 690 risk genes for motor neuron disease.
From ACM TechNews
Minecraft DDoS Attack Leaves Small European Country Without Internet
Andorra Telecom experienced repeated distributed denial-of-service attacks during the SquidCraft Games tournament in Minecraft, a multi-day Twitch gaming tournament.
From ACM TechNews
Engineers Build Molecular Framework to Bridge Experimental, Computer Sciences for Peptide-Based Materials Engineering
Engineers have closed the gap between experimental and computer sciences to better predict peptide structures with a molecular framework.
From ACM News
The Administration Wants to Prevent an Attack on Water Supplies
New water cybersecurity standards are coming – but they're voluntary.
From ACM News
How the Computer Chip Shortage Could Incite a U.S. Conflict With China
A war game and study by a think tank illustrate how dependent the world is on Taiwan's semiconductor foundries.
From ACM News
I.M.F. Urges El Salvador to End its Embrace of Crypto as Bitcoin Tumbles.
The price of Bitcoin has fallen more than 50% from its peak in November, which could prove costly for institutions that have bought into digital currencies.
From ACM News
Safari Flaws Exposed Webcams, Online Accounts, More
Apple awarded a $100,500 bug bounty to the researcher who discovered the latest major vulnerability in its browser.
From ACM TechNews
Shanghai Rated World's Top Smart City for 2022
A research report by U.K.-based market researcher Juniper Research ranks Shanghai as the world's top smart city this year.
From ACM TechNews
Tech Salaries Just Hit Record Highs. So Why Do IT Staff Still Feel Underpaid?
According to the latest Dice Tech Salary Report, the average salary for U.S. technologists reached a record high of $104,566 in 2021.
From ACM TechNews
Researchers Use Mobile Device Data to Predict COVID-19 Outbreaks
Yale School of Public Health researchers used location information from mobile devices to accurately forecast COVID-19 outbreaks in Connecticut municipalities.
From ACM TechNews
Flaws Plague Tool Meant to Help Low-Risk Federal Prisoners Win Early Release
The U.S. Department of Justice found persistent flaws in an algorithm used to qualify low-risk federal prisoners for early release.