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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.


For Steve Ballmer, a Lasting Touch on Microsoft
From ACM Opinion

For Steve Ballmer, a Lasting Touch on Microsoft

On the eve of his exit as chief executive officer of Microsoft, after more than a decade on the job, Steve Ballmer is more than ever a CEO whose image does not...

Edward Snowden, The Dark Prophet
From ACM Opinion

Edward Snowden, The Dark Prophet

To avoid surveillance, the first four Americans to visit Edward Snowden in Moscow carried no cell phones or laptops.

Inside the Effort to Kill a Web Fraud 'botnet'
From ACM News

Inside the Effort to Kill a Web Fraud 'botnet'

For months, investigators at Microsoft Corp. hunkered down in front of their computer monitors, patiently stalking the shadowy figures behind what the company says...

Doom's Creator Looks Back on 20 Years of Demonic Mayhem
From ACM Opinion

Doom's Creator Looks Back on 20 Years of Demonic Mayhem

At the stroke of midnight on December 10, 1993, an executive at id Software uploaded a file to an FTP site on the University of Washington's network.

China Bitcoin Arbitrage Ends As Traders Work Around Capital Controls
From ACM News

China Bitcoin Arbitrage Ends As Traders Work Around Capital Controls

The price gap between bitcoins trading in Chinese yuan and those sold for other currencies has evaporated in recent days, highlighting the porous nature of China's...

Nsa ­ses Google Cookies to Pinpoint Targets For Hacking
From ACM TechNews

Nsa ­ses Google Cookies to Pinpoint Targets For Hacking

Documents released by former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden indicate the agency uses Internet cookies to hack indivuals' computers. 

The Brilliant Hack That Brought Foursquare Back From the Dead
From ACM News

The Brilliant Hack That Brought Foursquare Back From the Dead

Dennis Crowley thought his 13-year dream might never come true. 

From ACM News

Fbi's Search For 'mo,' Suspect in Bomb Threats, Highlights ­se of Malware For Surveillance

The man who called himself "Mo" had dark hair, a foreign accent and—if the pictures he emailed to federal investigators could be believed—an Iranian military uniform...

Supreme Court to Decide on Patent Protections For Software
From ACM News

Supreme Court to Decide on Patent Protections For Software

The Supreme Court agreed last Friday to rule on the divisive issue of what kinds of software are eligible for patent protection in a case being closely watched...

World of Spycraft: Nsa and CIA Spied in Online Games
From ACM News

World of Spycraft: Nsa and CIA Spied in Online Games

Not limiting their activities to the earthly realm, American and British spies have infiltrated the fantasy worlds of World of Warcraft and Second Life, conducting...

Identifying Signs of Chronic Brain Injury in Living Football Players
From ACM News

Identifying Signs of Chronic Brain Injury in Living Football Players

Eight former pro football players learned this year that they have signs of a degenerative brain disorder called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a condition...

Someone's Been Siphoning Data Through a Huge Security Hole in the Internet
From ACM News

Someone's Been Siphoning Data Through a Huge Security Hole in the Internet

In 2008, two security researchers at the DefCon hacker conference demonstrated a massive security vulnerability in the worldwide internet traffic-routing system—a...

China Bars Banks from Bitcoin Transactions
From ACM News

China Bars Banks from Bitcoin Transactions

China's government banned financial institutions from trading in bitcoin on Thursday, in what analysts said was a restrained first step towards regulating the digital...

When Bitcoins Go Bad: 4 Stories of Fraud, Hacking, and Digital Currencies
From ACM News

When Bitcoins Go Bad: 4 Stories of Fraud, Hacking, and Digital Currencies

With Bitcoin interest (and prices) spiking, you might be considering investing in your own little cache of digital currency.

'Soft' Biometrics Is the New Way to Monitor People
From ACM News

'Soft' Biometrics Is the New Way to Monitor People

Cameras are strewn around our environment, catching glimpses of our faces everywhere we go, yet even the best facial recognition technology still has a hard time...

Scientist-Developed Malware Covertly Jumps Air Gaps Using Inaudible Sound
From ACM News

Scientist-Developed Malware Covertly Jumps Air Gaps Using Inaudible Sound

Computer scientists have developed a malware prototype that uses inaudible audio signals to communicate, a capability that allows the malware to covertly transmit...

Digital Era Confounds the Courts
From ACM News

Digital Era Confounds the Courts

The Founding Fathers weren't big on texting.

Inside a Twitter Robot Factory
From ACM News

Inside a Twitter Robot Factory

One day last month, Jim Vidmar bought 1,000 fake Twitter accounts for $58 from an online vendor in Pakistan.

Imagine Your Face As Your Future Iphone Password
From ACM News

Imagine Your Face As Your Future Iphone Password

You may one day be able to unlock your iPhone based just on your good looks.

Pilot ­se of Automation Eyed in Air Crashes
From ACM News

Pilot ­se of Automation Eyed in Air Crashes

Pilots are becoming so reliant on the computer systems that do most of the flying in today's airliners that on the rare occasions when something goes wrong, they're...
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