The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "PC" ...
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Cybercrime, Inc.; Meth addicts' other habit: Online theft; Cyber safecrackers break into online accounts with ease; This little fob could foil a cyber bank robber; Net crooks con Americans into web of crime; Unprotected PCs can be hijacked in minutes; The rise of zombie computers -- Are hackers using your PC to spew spam and steal?; Tech industry has no unified defense system
These USA Today reporters set out to delineate the underlying economic drivers of cyber crime. On Sept. 8, 2004, Achohido and Swartz were the first to comprehensively describe how cyber crooks systematically took control of millions of home computers, turning them into zombies to carry out various fraud schemes. An accompanying cover story took big tech suppliers to task for placing an unfair burden on consumers for keeping the Internet safe. A November 30 story reported the results of a honey pot test -- designed and overseen by the reporters -- showing how simply connecting a new PC to the Internet triggers nonstop break-in attempts by intruders. They also outlined what readers can and should do to protect themselves. These findings were only the beginning of their investigation.
Tags: cyber fraud; Internet; online
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Spyware Cures May Cause More Harm Than Good
The CNET News.com investigation found that spyware programs sometimes cause the same problems they say they are erasing. Spyware or adware can weave itself into computers, cause problems and be extremely difficult to remove.
Tags: On-line; spyware; computer; software; web; spam; advertising; The Center for Democracy & Technology; Federal Trade Commission; privacy; adware; SpyBan; Trojan horse; NicTech; PC; internet
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Internet Security: Are hackers using your PC to spew spam and steal?
"This body of work reveals how and why cyber intruders and scam artists have begun to accelerate their attempts to exploit the openness of the Internet, and what the implications are for consumers and the tech industry."
Tags: internet; spam; viruses; firewall protection; phishing
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Trench Warfare over fee forfeiture: How one law firm has hung on to seven-ninths of its copier (so far) -- and what it might mean for you.
The American Lawyer tells the story of the Mofeitt, Zwerling & Kemler, P.C. law firm, which managed to keep seven-ninths of a $103,800 fee the company charged a cocaine dealer it represented. The dealer was sent to federal prison, and prosecutors at first won a ruling that said the $103,800 fee was forfeitable, but the judge restricted prosecutors efforts to take the money out of the defense attorneys' hides.
Tags: defense lawyers; fee forfeiture; courts; prosecutors; law; legal; judges; ruling
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Silicon Valley's Dark Side
In this series, The San Jose Mercury News questioned the electronics industry about its "corporate responsibility by examining labor and environmental practices common in the global production and disposal of desktop PCs. Primarily reported in southern China, the series documented the life-cycle of the PC: from components assembled by young migrant women at contractor factories, where many work excessive overtime hours in violation of China's labor law, to unregulated computer recycling centers, where unprotected workers salvage hazardous electronic waste imported from the United States and other developing countries."
Tags: computers; China; corporate responsibility; PC; personal computer; components; migrant workers; labor law; environment
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Getting Aggressive About Road Rage
Many accidents are related to road rage and aggressive driving, so PC looks at the issue and possibily solutions.
Tags: road rage; driving; traffic jams; campaigns; insurerers; insurance companies
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Speech Impediment: How a Penn freshman stood up to the PC police and cracked the campus speech code
A freshman at Penn was accused of violating campus speech code by racially harassing some female African-American students. The case called into question the legitimacy and effectiveness of campus speech codes decrying racial harassment.
Tags: Colleges
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PC Repair Rip-Off
PC World investigated computer chains stores. They brought deliberately damaged PCs to 20 branches of four national chains. Many stories misdiagnosed problems, charged excessively high fees, or suggested costly and unnecessary upgrades.
Tags: Technology; RadioShack; CompUSA; Best Buy; Computer City
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Killing Them Softly
Spy Magazine reports that "...Roach Motel goo guns? Beanbag-shooting rifles? For PC wars of the future, the Pentagon is developing kinder, gentler weapons - including bowel-erupting sound machines and eyeball-bursting, organ-cooking lasers. Ah, that's better..."
Tags: futuristic weapons technology research development Department of Defense nonlethal weapons movement
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No title (id: 10642)
PC World Magazine traced the flow of special interest money and influence behind the efforts to deregulate the communications, entertainment and media industries; finds that millions of dollars were being channelled to lawmakers proposing the deregulation of these industries, May 1994.