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An edited collection of advanced computing news from Communications of the ACM, ACM TechNews, other ACM resources, and news sites around the Web.


DGCA Nod Clears Runway for the Dawn of Drone Age
From ACM TechNews

DGCA Nod Clears Runway for the Dawn of Drone Age

India's Directorate-General of Civil Aviation is permitting 13 companies to test fly beyond visual line of sigh (BVLOS) drones.

U.S. HHS Battles DDoS
From ACM News

U.S. HHS Battles DDoS

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services networks were hit by a Distributed Denial of Service attack just as the coronavirus pandemic was ramping up.

China is Collecting DNA From Tens of Millions of Boys and Men, Using U.S. Equipment
From ACM News

China is Collecting DNA From Tens of Millions of Boys and Men, Using U.S. Equipment

Even children are pressed into giving blood samples to build a sweeping genetic database that will add to Beijing's growing surveillance capabilities.

Riding Out Quarantine With a Chatbot Friend: ‘I Feel Very Connected’
From ACM News

Riding Out Quarantine With a Chatbot Friend: ‘I Feel Very Connected’

The digital companions may sound like science fiction. But when social isolation became the norm, they helped deal with the loneliness, some users say.

Activists Cite Tabulation Flaw in Georgia Mail-In Ballots
From ACM TechNews

Activists Cite Tabulation Flaw in Georgia Mail-In Ballots

Thousands of votes in Georgia's primary may not have been counted, due to faulty software or poorly calibrated scanners used to count mailed ballots.

Norway Pulls Its Coronavirus Contact Tracing App After Privacy Watchdog's Warning
From ACM TechNews

Norway Pulls Its Coronavirus Contact Tracing App After Privacy Watchdog's Warning

Norway has suspended use of a coronavirus contact tracing application to allow changes to be made.

Elite CIA Unit that Developed Hacking Tools Failed to Secure its Own Systems, Allowing Massive Leak
From ACM News

Elite CIA Unit that Developed Hacking Tools Failed to Secure its Own Systems, Allowing Massive Leak

The breach came nearly three years after Edward Snowden stole and disclosed classified information about NSA surveillance operations.

Who’s a Bot? Who’s Not?
From ACM News

Who’s a Bot? Who’s Not?

It sometimes seems automated bots are taking over social media and driving human discourse. But some (real) researchers aren't so sure.

Researchers Turn to Wearable Tech in Race to Track Covid-19
From ACM TechNews

Researchers Turn to Wearable Tech in Race to Track Covid-19

Researchers are using wearable technologies that monitor fluctuations in biomarkers to collect real-time patient data, to try to track the spread of Covid-19.

Exit From the Covid-19 Lockdown: There's an App for That
From ACM News

Exit From the Covid-19 Lockdown: There's an App for That

The Dutch government wants every citizen to download an app for tracking and tracing potential Covid-19 infections, but the app does not yet exist.  

Robots Armed with UV Light Fight Grape Mildew
From ACM TechNews

Robots Armed with UV Light Fight Grape Mildew

A multi-institutional and international collaboration has yielded autonomous robots that use ultraviolet lamps to kill powdery mildew on crops.

DARPA Invites Hackers to Break Hardware to Make It More Secure
From ACM TechNews

DARPA Invites Hackers to Break Hardware to Make It More Secure

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is inviting white-hat hackers to identify vulnerabilities in computer chips prior to their deployment.

Signal Downloads Are Way Up Since the Protests Began
From ACM News

Signal Downloads Are Way Up Since the Protests Began

Organizers and demonstrators say they feel safer communicating with end-to-end encryption.

Coronavirus Makes AR's Potential a Reality for Chip Makers
From ACM TechNews

Coronavirus Makes AR's Potential a Reality for Chip Makers

The coronavirus pandemic has spurred the everyday use of augmented reality in semiconductor manufacturing and other industries.

Self-Driving Cars That Recognize Free Space Can Better Detect Objects
From ACM TechNews

Self-Driving Cars That Recognize Free Space Can Better Detect Objects

Researchers have developed a method to improve self-driving vehicles's ability to detect objects by enabling them to recognize empty space.

Billions of Smart Home Devices Open to Attack
From ACM TechNews

Billions of Smart Home Devices Open to Attack

A newly discovered vulnerability in the Universal Plug and Play networking protocol could expose billions of smart home devices to cyberattack.

Access Denied: Faulty Automated Background Checks Freeze Out Renters
From ACM News

Access Denied: Faulty Automated Background Checks Freeze Out Renters

Computer algorithms that scan everything from terror watch lists to eviction records spit out flawed tenant screening reports. And almost nobody is watching.

Microsoft Bans Police Face Recognition Sales as Big Tech Reacts to Protests
From ACM News

Microsoft Bans Police Face Recognition Sales as Big Tech Reacts to Protests

The announcement came a day after rival Amazon.com declared it was pausing police use of its "Rekognition" service for a year.

Younger People, Users of Niche Social Media Platforms More Likely to Share Covid-19 Disinformation
From ACM TechNews

Younger People, Users of Niche Social Media Platforms More Likely to Share Covid-19 Disinformation

More than half of respondents to the study who shared disinformation were 39 or younger.

U.S. Voting Data from Millions of People is Being Traded on the Dark Web
From ACM TechNews

U.S. Voting Data from Millions of People is Being Traded on the Dark Web

Researchers have found that data on millions of U.S. voters is being illegally traded on parts of the Internet not searchable using normal means.
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