Communications of the ACM
Innovation Is Overrated: A Provocation
Digital innovation is not working in the interest of the whole of society. It is time to radically rethink its purpose without…
From ACM Opinion
The Russia Investigations: The U.S. Launches a Digital Offensive, Gently
Everyone knows how to picture the special operations troopers of, for example, the Army's elite Delta Force: Rough-looking customers with custom carbines and advanced...
From ACM Opinion
Apple CEO Tim Cook on Screen Time Controls, Working with China
Tim Cook, who has led Apple since 2011, spoke with NPR's Steve Inskeep in a wide-ranging interview on Monday as the company kicked off its annual Worldwide Developers...
From ACM Opinion
Wikipedia Founder Says Internet sers Are Adrift in the 'Fake News' Era
At any given moment, volunteers and paid workers are writing fictional narratives that they present online as news stories, and some of those will get picked up...
From ACM Opinion
Autonomous Weapons Would Take Warfare to a New Domain, Without Humans
Killer robots have been a staple of TV and movies for decades, from Westworld to The Terminator series. But in the real world, killer robots are officially known...
From ACM Opinion
This 'Gray Hat' Hacker Breaks Into Your Car, to Prove a Point
Cybercrime is expanding beyond computers and cellphones. Cars, washers and dryers, and even toasters are going online—an evolution of technology called the ...
From ACM Opinion
The Father of the Internet Sees His Invention Reflected Back Through a 'Black Mirror'
In 1984, two men were thinking a lot about the Internet. One of them invented it. The other is an artist who would see its impact on society with uncanny prescience...
From ACM Opinion
Computational Propaganda: Bots, Targeting, and the Future
A long time ago, when I was working on my Ph.D. research, I learned to use supercomputers to track the complex 3-D motions of gas blown into space by dying stars...
From ACM Opinion
5 Ways Election Interference Could (and Probably Will) Worsen in 2018 and Beyond
If you thought 2016 was bad, just wait for the sequel.
From ACM Opinion
Learning to Spot Fake News: Start with a Gut Check
Which of these statements seems more trustworthy to you?
From ACM Opinion
President Trump's New Order Gives China Tech Opportunity To 'hire American' Too
The same week that President Trump issued his hire American executive order, the president of one of China's top tech companies said his company wants to do the...
From ACM Opinion
Despite Its Promise, the Internet of Things Remains Vulnerable
More and more of the things we use every day are being connected to the Internet.
From ACM Opinion
If To Err Is Human, Should Technology Help s Shed Some Humanity?
By all accounts, technology has made us safer.
From ACM Opinion
Documentary Explores The Cyber-War Secrets Of Stuxnet
Alex Gibney's new documentary, Zero Days, looks at the Stuxnet worm—a cyber weapon developed by the U.S. and Israel.
From ACM Opinion
Why The Fbi Director Puts Tape Over His Webcam
FBI Director James Comey gave a speech this week about encryption and privacy, repeating his argument that "absolute privacy" hampers law enforcement. But it was...
From ACM Opinion
Why Digital Security Is an 'arms Race' Between Firms and the Feds
The Apple-FBI standoff, where Apple is refusing to write special software that would help investigators crack into an iPhone of one of the San Bernardino shooters...
From ACM Opinion
The Cybersecurity Argument For and Against Device Encryption
Government officials argue that encrypted communication poses national security risks. But tech companies say that making it possible to unlock devices would make...
From ACM Opinion
Apple Ceo Tim Cook: 'privacy Is a Fundamental Human Right'
Apple has long touted the power and design of its devices, but recently the world's most valuable company has been emphasizing another feature: privacy.
From ACM Opinion
How Close Are We Really to a Robot-Run Society?
From Rosie, the Jetsons' robot maid, to Arnold Schwarzenegger's cyborg in The Terminator, popular culture has frequently conceived of robots as having a human-like...
From ACM Opinion
Infiltrating 'the Dark Net,' Where Criminals, Trolls, and Extremists Reign
There's a side to the Internet most people have never visited.
From ACM Opinion