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subjectComputers And Society
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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.


So Much for Counter-Phishing Training: Half of People Click Anything Sent to Them
From ACM News

So Much for Counter-Phishing Training: Half of People Click Anything Sent to Them

Security experts often talk about the importance of educating people about the risks of "phishing" e-mails containing links to malicious websites. But sometimes...

Hints Suggest an Insider Helped the Nsa 'equation Group' Hacking Tools Leak
From ACM News

Hints Suggest an Insider Helped the Nsa 'equation Group' Hacking Tools Leak

A group called the Shadow Brokers made headlines this month by leaking a hacking tool belonging to the NSA's Tailored Access Operations (TAO) team. Now this week...

Linux Turns 25, Is Bigger and More Professional Than Ever
From ACM News

Linux Turns 25, Is Bigger and More Professional Than Ever

The Linux operating system kernel is 25 years old this month. It was August 25, 1991 when Linus Torvalds posted his famous message announcing the project, claiming...

New Air-Gap Jumper Covertly Transmits Data in Hard-Drive Sounds
From ACM News

New Air-Gap Jumper Covertly Transmits Data in Hard-Drive Sounds

Researchers have devised a new way to siphon data out of an infected computer even when it has been physically disconnected from the Internet to prevent the leakage...

Fbi Chief Comey: 'we Have Never Had Absolute Privacy'
From ACM News

Fbi Chief Comey: 'we Have Never Had Absolute Privacy'

FBI Director James Comey has some phones—650 of them, to be exact—that he'd really, really like to take a look at.

Good News—the Robocalling Scourge May Not Be Unstoppable After All
From ACM News

Good News—the Robocalling Scourge May Not Be Unstoppable After All

New data shows that the majority of robot-enabled scam phone calls came from fewer than 40 call centers, a finding that offers hope the growing menace of robocalls...

Frequent Password Changes Are the Enemy of Security, Ftc Technologist Says
From ACM News

Frequent Password Changes Are the Enemy of Security, Ftc Technologist Says

Shortly after Carnegie Mellon University professor Lorrie Cranor became chief technologist at the Federal Trade Commission in January, she was surprised by an ...

Tour De France to ­se Thermal Imaging to Fight Mechanical Doping
From ACM News

Tour De France to ­se Thermal Imaging to Fight Mechanical Doping

They call it "mechanical doping," but the name simply doesn't do it justice.

Smile, You're in the Fbi Face-Recognition Database
From ACM News

Smile, You're in the Fbi Face-Recognition Database

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has access to as many as 411.9 million images as part of its face-recognition database. 

Goodbye, Obamaberry. Hello, Obamadroid.
From ACM News

Goodbye, Obamaberry. Hello, Obamadroid.

When President Barack Obama took office in 2009, he pushed to keep his BlackBerry.

Red Astroturf: Chinese Government Makes Millions of Fake Social Media Posts
From ACM News

Red Astroturf: Chinese Government Makes Millions of Fake Social Media Posts

Data scientists at Harvard University have found that the government of the People's Republic of China generates an estimated 448 million fake social media posts...

Dronebuster Will Let You Point and Shoot Command Hacks at Pesky Drones
From ACM News

Dronebuster Will Let You Point and Shoot Command Hacks at Pesky Drones

Anti-drone technology has been high on the shopping list of public safety and military organizations at least since a drunken federal employee crashed a drone onto...

As ­S Drops 'cyber Bombs,' Isis Retools Its Own Cyber Army
From ACM News

As ­S Drops 'cyber Bombs,' Isis Retools Its Own Cyber Army

The Islamic State has been deft in its use of the Internet as a communications tool.

Human History Traced Via the Y Chromosome
From ACM News

Human History Traced Via the Y Chromosome

The history of humanity, as we've read it through DNA, has been written largely by females.

Long After His Accident, Sam Schmidt Takes the Wheel Again Thanks to Project Sam
From ACM News

Long After His Accident, Sam Schmidt Takes the Wheel Again Thanks to Project Sam

In the late 90s, Sam Schmidt had a promising career as an IndyCar driver, finishing fifth in the championship in 1999 after taking his first win in Las Vegas.

Fair ­se Prevails as Supreme Court Rejects Google Books Copyright Case
From ACM News

Fair ­se Prevails as Supreme Court Rejects Google Books Copyright Case

The Supreme Court on Monday declined (PDF) to hear a challenge from the Authors Guild and other writers claiming Google's scanning of their books amounts to wanton...

'this Is the Irs Regarding Your Tax Filings,' Says Trio of Overseas Robocallers
From ACM News

'this Is the Irs Regarding Your Tax Filings,' Says Trio of Overseas Robocallers

As if political campaigns, shady telemarketers hawking home security systems, and the rest of the usual suspects aren't generating enough automated phone calls,...

First Came the Breathalyzer, Now Meet the Roadside Police 'textalyzer'
From ACM News

First Came the Breathalyzer, Now Meet the Roadside Police 'textalyzer'

We're all familiar with the Breathalyzer, the brand name for a roadside device that measures a suspected drunken driver's blood-alcohol level.

Apple Likely Can't Force Fbi to Disclose How It Got Data from Seized Iphone
From ACM News

Apple Likely Can't Force Fbi to Disclose How It Got Data from Seized Iphone

The US government isn't saying whether it will divulge to Apple the method it used to access the locked iPhone seized by one of the San Bernardino shooters.

Meet the Largest Science Project in ­S Government History—the James Webb Telescope
From ACM News

Meet the Largest Science Project in ­S Government History—the James Webb Telescope

Since Galileo first discovered the moons of Jupiter and the phases of Venus, telescopes have gotten larger, more accurate, and more powerful.
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