Communications of the ACM
An edited collection of advanced computing news from Communications of the ACM, ACM TechNews, other ACM resources, and news sites around the Web.
From ACM TechNews
Most Cybersecurity Reports Only Focus on the Cool Threats
A study found just 82 of 629 commercial cybersecurity reports published in the last decade discuss threats to civil society, with the rest devoted to cybercrime...
From ACM TechNews
Millions of WordPress Sites Are Being Probed, Attacked With Recent Plugin Bug
Defiant Inc. reports millions of WordPress sites have been attacked by hackers exploiting a zero-day vulnerability in the "File Manager" WordPress plugin.
From ACM TechNews
Malware Gang Uses .NET Library to Generate Excel Docs That Bypass Security Checks
Security researchers at NVISO Labs discovered a malware gang is using a .NET library to create malicious Excel files.
From ACM TechNews
Microsoft Pays $13.7 Million in Security Bug Bounties
Microsoft has awarded $13.7 million to security researchers since July 2019 for reporting bugs in its software, which is triple the $4.4 million from the same period...
From ACM News
Evil AI: These are the 20 Most Dangerous Crimes that Artificial Intelligence will Create
A new report tells us which criminal applications of AI we should really worry about.
From ACM TechNews
BadPower Attack Corrupts Fast Chargers to Melt or Set Your Device on Fire
Chinese security researchers from Tencent's Xuanwu Lab said they can corrupt the firmware of fast chargers to cause damage to the items they charge. The BadPower...
From ACM TechNews
Phishing Attacks: This Sophisticated Group Has Been Operating Undiscovered for at Least a Year
Cybersecurity researchers found a new phishing group targeting large companies worldwide, which may have been operating undiscovered for over a year.
From ACM TechNews
São Paulo Subway Facial Recognition System Slammed Over User Data Security, Privacy
Consumer rights groups say the agency operating the subway system in São Paulo, Brazil, has not shown that a new facial recognition technology platform protects...
From ACM News
Windows 10 2004 Update Block Confusion: 'Your PC Settings Aren't Supported'
Hardware drivers still appear to be causing havoc for users trying to upgrade to Windows 10 version 2004.
From ACM TechNews
Singapore Issues Covid-19 Contact Tracing Wearables to 'Vulnerable Seniors'
Covid-19 contact tracing wearables are being issued to Singapore's "most vulnerable seniors," who are not digitally connected and at higher risk of catching the...
From ACM News
Microsoft Releases Emergency Security Update to Fix Two Bugs in Windows Codecs
Security updates have been silently deployed to customers on Tuesday through the Windows Store app.
From ACM TechNews
Lucifer: Devilish Malware That Abuses Critical Vulnerabilities on Windows Machines
Researchers discovered a new variant of a powerful cryptojacking and DDoS-based malware, called Lucifer, which infects Windows machines by exploiting their vulnerabilities...
From ACM News
Windows 10 Critical Process Failure: Microsoft Admits June Updates are Triggering Reboots
Forced reboots are affecting some machines running Windows 10 version 1809 and above.
From ACM TechNews
KingMiner Botnet Brute-Forces MSSQL Databases to Install Cryptocurrency Miner
U.K. cybersecurity firm Sophos is advising MSSQL database owners to fortify their servers against botnet-orchestrated brute-force attacks.
From ACM TechNews
Kaiji Malware Targets IoT Devices Via SSH Brute-Force Attacks
Researchers have discovered a new strain of malware built to infect Linux-based servers and smart Internet of Things devices.
From ACM TechNews
Supercomputers Hacked Across Europe to Mine Cryptocurrency
Hackers have compromised multiple supercomputers in the U.K., Germany, Switzerland, and possibly Spain with cryptocurrency-mining malware.
From ACM TechNews
Cybersecurity Staff Are Being Transferred to IT Support, Adding to the Risk of Data Breaches
Nearly half of 256 cybersecurity professionals polled reported having been reassigned to general IT tasks, due to the global COVID-19 outbreak.
From ACM TechNews
Academics Steal Data From Air-Gapped Systems Using PC Fan Vibrations
Academics have developed a technique for stealing data from air-gapped systems by manipulating the vibrations of the fans inside computers.
From ACM TechNews
Docker Servers Targeted by Kinsing Malware Campaign
Over the past few months, a malware campaign has been scanning the Internet for Docker servers running API ports exposed without a password.
From ACM TechNews