Communications of the ACM
Generative AI Degrades Online Communities
How large language models are influencing online communities.
From ACM Opinion
Let's School the Presidential Hopefuls on Cybersecurity
In the build up to the 2016 U.S. election, both Democratic and Republican presidential hopefuls are talking about cybersecurity—and specifically state-sponsored...
From ACM Opinion
How Fiction Can Reveal the Horrors of Future Wars
The fact that he couldn't feel the drill going into the back of his skull made the noise all the more terrifying.
From ACM Opinion
We Should Drop the Leap Second Before It Causes Real Damage
The latest leap second couldn’t have come at a worse time.
From ACM Opinion
Why the Opm Breach Is Such a Security and Privacy Debacle
If it's not already a maxim, it should be: Every big hack discovered will eventually prove to be more serious than first believed.
From ACM Opinion
I Made an ntraceable 'ghost Gun' in My Office—and It Was Easy
This is my ghost gun. To quote the rifleman's creed, there are many like it, but this one is mine.
From ACM Opinion
Snowden's 'sexy Margaret Thatcher' Password Isn't So Secure
Edward Snowden appears to have a thing for the late British conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher. And his obsession may even be clouding his famously paranoid...
From ACM Opinion
Nsa Doesn't Need to Spy on Your Calls to Learn Your Secrets
Governments and corporations gather, store, and analyze the tremendous amount of data we chuff out as we move through our digitized lives.
From ACM Opinion
Why the Silk Road Trial Matters
Ross Ulbricht is finally getting his day in court, 15 months after plainclothes FBI agents grabbed him in the science fiction section of a San Francisco library...
From ACM Opinion
Why Cheap Cameras and Boring Sensors Make the Best Smart Home Stuff
The twin fixations of CES this year are, to no one's surprise, wearable technology and the internet of things.
From ACM Opinion
The Biggest Security Threats We'll Face in 2015
As the clock strikes midnight on the new year, so begins the countdown to a new round of security threats and breaches that doubtless will unfold in 2015. But this...
From ACM Opinion
Sure, Artificial Intelligence May End Our World, But That Is Not the Main Problem
The robots will rise, we're told.
From ACM Opinion
Algorithms Are Great and All, But They Can Also Ruin Lives
On April 5, 2011, 41-year-old John Gass received a letter from the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles.
From ACM Opinion
How to Save the Net: Keep It Open
For all of its history, the Internet has enjoyed the fruits of an openness principle: the idea that anyone can reach any site online and that information and data...
From ACM Opinion
The Weird Reasons Why People Make p False Identities on the Internet
Sockpuppetry—using false identities for deception—is centuries old, but the advent of the web has made creating sockpuppets, and falling for their tricks, easier...
From ACM Opinion
The Moral Hazards and Legal Conundrums of Our Robot-Filled Future
The robots are coming, and they're getting smarter.
From ACM Opinion
The Troubling Truth of Why It's Still So Hard to Share Files Directly
It's not always easy to spot the compromises in the technology we use, where we've allowed corporate interests to trump public ideals like privacy and press freedom...
From ACM Opinion
The Nightmare on Connected Home Street
I wake up at four to some old-timey dubstep spewing from my pillows.
From ACM Opinion
How the Nsa Could Bug Your Powered-Off Phone, and How to Stop Them
Just because you turned off your phone doesn't mean the NSA isn't using it to spy on you.
From ACM Opinion
Glenn Greenwald's Pulse-Pounding Tale of Breaking the Snowden Leaks
In June 2013, Edward Snowden was sitting in his room at the Mira hotel in Hong Kong, watching the world react to the first of his explosive leaks about the NSA's...
From ACM Opinion