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The RISKS Digest or Forum On Risks to the Public in Computers and Related Systems is an online
periodical A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a journal are also examples ...
published since 1985 by the Committee on Computers and Public Policy of the
Association for Computing Machinery The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is a US-based international learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 and is the world's largest scientific and educational computing society. The ACM is a non-profit professional membe ...
. The editor is Peter G. Neumann. It is a moderated forum concerned with the security and safety of computers,
software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists o ...
, and technological systems. Security, and risk, here are taken broadly; RISKS is concerned not merely with so-called
security hole Vulnerabilities are flaws in a computer system that weaken the overall security of the device/system. Vulnerabilities can be weaknesses in either the hardware itself, or the software that runs on the hardware. Vulnerabilities can be exploited by ...
s in software, but with
unintended consequence In the social sciences, unintended consequences (sometimes unanticipated consequences or unforeseen consequences) are outcomes of a purposeful action that are not intended or foreseen. The term was popularised in the twentieth century by Ameri ...
s and hazards stemming from the design (or lack thereof) of automated systems. Other recurring subjects include
cryptography Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adve ...
and the effects of technically ill-considered public policies. RISKS also publishes announcements and Calls for Papers from various technical conferences, and technical book reviews (usually by Rob Slade, though occasionally by others). Although RISKS is a forum of a computer science association, most contributions are readable and informative to anyone with an interest in the subject. It is heavily read by
system administrator A system administrator, or sysadmin, or admin is a person who is responsible for the upkeep, configuration, and reliable operation of computer systems, especially multi-user computers, such as servers. The system administrator seeks to en ...
s, and computer security managers, as well as computer scientists and
engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the lim ...
s. The RISKS Digest is published on a frequent but irregular schedule through the moderated
Usenet Usenet () is a worldwide distributed discussion system available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose UUCP, Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP) dial-up network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis (computing), Jim Ellis conceived th ...
newsgroup A Usenet newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from users in different locations using the Internet. They are discussion groups and are not devoted to publishing news. Newsgroups are technically distinc ...
'' ews:comp.risks comp.risks', which exists solely to carry the Digest. Summaries of the forum appear as columns edited by Neumann in the ACM
SIGSOFT The Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group on Software Engineering provides a forum for computing professionals from industry, government and academia to examine principles, practices, and new research results in software en ...
''
Software Engineering Notes The ACM SIGSOFT ''Software Engineering Notes'' (SEN) is published by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for the ''Special Interest Group on Software Engineering'' (SIGSOFT). It was established in 1976, and the first issue appeared in Ma ...
'' (SEN) and the ''
Communications of the ACM ''Communications of the ACM'' is the monthly journal of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). It was established in 1958, with Saul Rosen as its first managing editor. It is sent to all ACM members. Articles are intended for readers with ...
'' (CACM).


References


External links


RISKS Digest web archive
* ews:///comp.risks RISKS Digest(Usenet newsgroup ''comp.risks'')
Google groups interface to ''comp.risks''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Risks Digest Risk Safety engineering Computer security procedures Magazines established in 1985 Association for Computing Machinery magazines Professional and trade magazines SRI International Engineering magazines Irregularly published magazines published in the United States 1985 establishments in the United States