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
Should Students se a Laptop in Class?
There's a widely shared image on the Internet of a teacher's note that says: "Dear students, I know when you're texting in class. Seriously, no one just looks down...
From ACM Opinion
Why a Cyberwar Won't Happen
Exactly two decades ago, the RAND Corporation, an influential think tank, proclaimed that "cyberwar is coming!"
From ACM Opinion
Nsa Surveillance Makes For Strange Bedfellows
The controversy over U.S. government surveillance has produced a king-size collection of strange bedfellows. Beneath the covers one finds both amusing ironies and...
From ACM Opinion
If the New Iphone Has Fingerprint Authentication, Can It Be Hacked?
When Apple bought AuthenTec for its biometrics technology—reported as one of its most expensive purchases—there was a lot of speculation about how the company would...
From ACM Opinion
Nsa's Anti-Encryption Efforts Compromise .s. Security
National Security Agency efforts to overcome encryption of online data weaken American security and undermine the government's duty to protect its own cyberinfrastructure...
From ACM Opinion
Online Data Brokers Know You—surprisingly Well
I'm a middle-aged guy who lives in a house that was built more than 50 years ago.
From ACM Opinion
Online Data Brokers Know You—Surprisingly Well
I'm a middle-aged guy who lives in a house that was built more than 50 years ago.
From ACM Opinion
Nsa Surveillance: A Guide to Staying Secure
Now that we have enough details about how the NSA eavesdrops on the Internet, including today's disclosures of the NSA's deliberate weakening of cryptographic systems...
From ACM Opinion
Why the .s. Should se Cyber Weapons Against Syria
If the Obama administration does conduct military strikes against Syria, as seems likely, it should use military cyber weapons at the earliest possible moment to...
From ACM Opinion
How Advanced Is the NSA's Cryptanalysis—And Can We Resist It?
The latest Snowden document is the U.S. intelligence "black budget."
From ACM Opinion
Who Will Prosper in the New World
Self-driving vehicles threaten to send truck drivers to the unemployment office.
From ACM Opinion
Tech Pioneer Vint Cerf on the Age of Context and Why You Can't Be a Citizen of the Internet
Few people have as much claim as Vint Cerf to the title "Father of the Internet," but as the technologies he helped develop in the 1970s and 1980s become increasingly...
From ACM Opinion
The Nsa's Crypto "breakthrough"
One difficulty of reporting on spy outfits like America's National Security Agency is the veil of secrecy they operate behind.
From ACM Opinion
It's a Myth That Entrepreneurs Drive New Technology
Images of tech entrepreneurs such as Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs are continually thrown at us by politicians, economists, and the media.
From ACM Opinion
Choosing Real-World Impact Over Impact Factor
My annual report for the 2012-13 academic year stares at me from an undisturbed corner of my desk.
From ACM Opinion
Madden Turns 25: How the Video Game Sacked Its Rivals
The year was 1988. George Michael's "Faith" was top of the pops. "Roseanne" was the number-one show on TV. Bruce Willis, starring in "Die Hard," still had hair.
From ACM Opinion
The Real, Terrifying Reason Why British Authorities Detained David Miranda
Last Sunday, David Miranda was detained while changing planes at London Heathrow Airport by British authorities for nine hours under a controversial British law—the...
From ACM Opinion
State of Innovation: Busting the Private-Sector Myth
Images of tech entrepreneurs such as Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs are continually thrown at us by politicians, economists and the media.
From ACM News