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
A Sample Security Agenda For Obama's Second Term
When Barack Obama was sworn in four years ago for his first term, there was genuine optimism that he would make meaningful improvements to the security of the nation's...
From ACM Opinion
How to Devise Passwords That Drive Hackers Away
Not long after I began writing about cybersecurity, I became a paranoid caricature of my former self.
From ACM Opinion
Inside the Secret World of the Data Crunchers Who Helped Obama Win
In late spring, the backroom number crunchers who powered Barack Obama's campaign to victory noticed that George Clooney had an almost gravitational tug on West...
From ACM Opinion
Is Failure to Predict a Crime?
I learned with disbelief last Monday about the decision of an Italian judge to convict seven scientific experts of manslaughter and to sentence them to six years...
From ACM Opinion
Does a Public "find My Iphone" Search Violate Personal Privacy?
A guy stole my iPhone. I tracked it and posted his address online. Was that wrong?
From ACM Opinion
Few Winners in Heated Cellphone Wars
If you are wondering who will be your cellphone provider next year, so are the cellphone companies.
From ACM Opinion
The Michigan Fight Song and Four Other Reasons to Avoid Internet Voting
In a Monday article, we described the security and reliability problems that have undermined public confidence in electronic voting machines within the United States...
From ACM Opinion
Cybercrime: Mobile Changes Everything—and No One's Safe
The FBI recently put out a mobile malware alert, providing us with a sobering reminder of this "evil software" for phones and tablets.
From ACM Opinion
Can We Trust Voting Machines?
Last week, a congressional report claimed that using Chinese telecommunications companies’ goods and services in the United States could threaten national security...
From Communications of the ACM
Keeping Technology Promises
Considering new models for educational technology and methods.
From Communications of the ACM
Societal Implications of the Emerging Smart Grid
Seeking solutions to concerns that go beyond the engineering of the smart grid.
From Communications of the ACM
Learning to Teach Computer Science: The Need For a Methods Course
A multipronged approach to preparing computer science teachers is critical to success.
From Communications of the ACM
Decentralization Versus Centralization in IT Governance
It's not as simple as you might think.
From Communications of the ACM
Oracle v. Google: Are APIs Copyrightable?
Assessing the first phase of the trial based on claims that Google's Android platform infringes Oracle's Java-related copyrights and patents.
From Communications of the ACM
The Research Value of Publishing Attacks
Security research can be improved by more effectively sharing what is learned from attacks on information systems.
From ACM Opinion
Capitol Hill Rhetoric Takes Aim at Wrong Cybersecurity Targets
Defense secretary Leon Panetta couldn't resist, could he? He couldn't fight the urge to dig deep into the information security cliché handbook and yank out that...
From ACM Opinion
Science in an Election Year
More than a dozen science and engineering organizations worked with ScienceDebate.org to draft 14 top science questions to ask the two main presidential candidates...
From ACM Opinion
Meet a Science Committee that Doesn't Get Science
In general, we only become aware of a politician's position on scientific issues during the campaign season. And, with a few exceptions like energy and climate...
From ACM Opinion
And the Firewalls Came Tumbling Down
There's much to like about "This Machine Kills Secrets," Andy Greenberg's well-reported history of WikiLeaks and the many projects it has inspired, but one unintentionally...
From ACM Opinion