David Geer

Cleveland, Ohio

Cybersecurity Writer and Journalist at Freelance

David D. Geer. Advanced B2B content writer, journalist, cybersecurity niche. You want a voice with decision-makers, and I speak cyber.(c)™ Operating since 2000.

Articles

Deterministic Record-and-Replay

3 weeks ago | cacm.acm.org | Andrew Quinn |Peter Alvaro |David Geer |Alex Williams

This installment of Research for Practice covers a topic that, despite its maturity, continues to produce cutting-edge research: deterministic record-and-replay. Deterministic record-and-replay technologies enable a faithful re-execution (replay) of a program that ran in the past (and perhaps encountered a rare bug, a performance anomaly, or an intrusion by an adversary). But accomplishing this requires that any nondeterministic inputs to the program be logged (recorded) during execution.
Communications of the ACM

1 month ago | cacm.acm.org | David Geer |Alex Williams |Sam Greengard

Cybercriminals are using artificial intelligence (AI) to create spear phishing attacks personalized against a specific individual. According to CNN, fraudsters recently used deepfake technology to fabricate a videoconference with a company’s CFO, convincing a Hong Kong finance worker to send them $25 million. Cybersecurity companies are countering with AI-enabled analysis of video data to detect deepfakes.
Communications of the ACM

1 month ago | cacm.acm.org | Marc Rotenberg |David Geer |R. Colin Johnson

Several years ago, I compiled the first reference book on AI policies.1 I aimed to provide a ready reference for the emerging field of artificial intelligence similar to the books I had published on privacy law.2 At that time, we noted the rapid explosion of AI ethics frameworks, but it was still early days for AI governance. The OECD had just finalized the first AI principles endorsed by national governments.
In Large Language Models We Trust?

1 month ago | cacm.acm.org | Peter J Denning |David Geer |R. Colin Johnson |Carlos Baquero

“If everybody always lies to you, the consequence is not that you believe the lies, but rather that nobody believes anything any longer.” These words were spoken by the political scientist and philosopher Hannah Arendt in 1974. She was discussing how totalitarian governments, through their propaganda, might induce such wide cynicism that people lose faith in the truth.
Behind the Bybit Crypto Theft

1 month ago | cacm.acm.org | David Geer |R. Colin Johnson |Carlos Baquero

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insures U.S. personal bank deposits up to $250,000. When the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank failed in 2023, the FDIC protected consumers and their money. Cryptocurrency has no similar protection. If criminals steal your crypto, you may not get it back. On February 21, 2025, thieves stole $1.46 billion of Ethereum (ETH) using a Dubai-based Bybit cryptocurrency exchange wallet. Major news reports called it the largest cryptocurrency theft ever.
Communications of the ACM

1 month ago | cacm.acm.org | Vinton Cerf |Sam Greengard |Karen Emslie |David Geer

As all readers of this essay know, I am not in any way expert in machine learning (ML) and large language models (LLMs), so my descriptions and observations are, at best, lightweight cartoons of what is actually going on. Please keep this in mind as you read this.
AI Transforms Medical Diagnostics

1 month ago | cacm.acm.org | Sam Greengard |Karen Emslie |David Geer

Understanding aches, pains, and medical conditions is a challenging task. Doctors and other health professionals attend school for years to learn about symptoms, diagnostic methods, and treatments. Afterwards, most spend considerable time reading literature and staying up to date with developments in the field. Suddenly, large language models are changing the way clinicians approach medical diagnostics.
Predicting the Unpredictable: The AI Outlook

1 month ago | cacm.acm.org | Karen Emslie |Sam Greengard |David Geer

The history of technological advance is characterized by disruption, yet we rarely witness a technology emerge with propensity to shock like artificial intelligence (AI). This year started with a bang when Chinese startup DeepSeek launched R1, an open-source, low-cost large language model (LLM) that blindsided global tech, knocked nearly $600 billion off U.S. chipmaker Nvidia’s market value, and provoked a serious spat with OpenAI over proprietary technology.
Communications of the ACM

1 month ago | cacm.acm.org | Logan Kugler |David Geer |Alex Tray

Millions of people use artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT daily to do everything from generating code to drawing images to creating business ideas. Those AI tools appear to be getting better. Back in November 2022 when it was launched, ChatGPT was powered by GPT-3.5, at the time the most powerful model offered by OpenAI. Yet GPT-3.5 was quickly eclipsed by GPT-4 just a few months later.
Cyber Trust Mark to Distinguish Secure Smart Home Devices

1 month ago | cacm.acm.org | David Geer |Alex Tray

Parents increasingly are reporting strange voices coming over hacked baby monitors. For instance, a mother in Crescent City, FL, recently told First Coast News that after buying and installing a baby monitor, she heard a voice saying, “kill, kill, kill, kill,” that was not coming from any person in the house; it was coming from the monitor. A quick online search for ‘hacked baby monitors’ shows news, social media, and video reports from parents about voices coming over their baby monitors.