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 "telecommunications" ...
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Cyber Espionage: The Chinese Threat
It’s the biggest threat facing American business today but the least talked about by corporate executives. Experts at the highest levels of government agree, cyber espionage is threatening to steal American wealth, American jobs and ultimately America’s economic security and the biggest aggressor is China. Due to the nature of the crime, the cost to American businesses is nearly impossible to pinpoint. Experts say Chinese hackers are constantly probing corporate networks, sifting through endless amounts of data to decipher what is valuable intellectual property, chemical formulas or proprietary technology. One conservative estimate from the National Counter Intelligence Executive puts the cost of economic espionage at up to $400B annually, but the report states such estimates vary “so widely as to be meaningless,” reflecting the scarcity of data available. CNBC’s David Faber and the Investigations Inc. team spoke with many corporate executives about China’s aggressive effort to target American businesses and their most valuable assets, but many refused to comment on camera for our report, citing becoming more vulnerable to attack by speaking publicly about the issue. However, not one executive denied their company is at risk of cyber-attack on a daily basis or the possibility of losing valuable intellectual property to cyber spies. Government and industry experts we spoke with on-camera have witnessed such costly cyber-attacks during their careers and attest to the fact there are only two companies left in America today: Those who know they’ve been hacked and those who don’t. From a whistleblower claiming telecommunications giant Nortel was one of the first casualties of this all-out cyber war, to high profile and public attacks on Google and RSA, its clear defending against cyber espionage is the new normal for American business.
Tags: Chinese hackers; American businesses; cyber attacks; cyber espionage
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A 911 Emergency
A WISH-TV (Indianapolis, IN) investigation exposed a public safety crisis resulting from a shortage of 911 operators. Inadequate staffing led to emergency calls being placed "on hold." Delays in answering led to delays in responding to emergencies. In addition, use of cell phones and computer-based phones adds to the response time as they do not provide dispatchers with the caller's location. Without this information, dispatchers are unable to determine where to send help. Reporters also looked at the historical problem of agencies not being able to "talk" to each other directly.
Tags: emergency dispatch systems; emergency dispatch response times; cell phone; 911; emergency dispatcher burnout; public-safety communications; Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials, APCO; enhanced wireless 911; Voice over Internet Protocol; VoIP; TTY; public safety answering point; PSAP; telecommunications; multiple line telephone system; MLTS; PBX-MLTS; National Association of State 911 Administrators; NASNA; Metropolitan Emergency Communication Agency; MECA; failsoft; Motorola
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Well Connected in the States
Well connected in the United States is an investigation into the political influence of the telecommunications industry at the state level.
Tags: telecommunications; lobbying; state government; Public Utility Board; SBC Communications; AT&T Corp.; utilities; FOIA; cable television; political contributions
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Hacker Hunters
The authors investigated a battle of wits between the U.S. secret service and a cyber-crime gang known as the ShadowCrew. The story covers a rare victory by law enforcement to shut down a web-based crime outfit. It gave a face to the ShadowCrew, a network of over 4,000 people run by a part time college student and gave a reminder to internet users to be wary of doing business on the Web.
Tags: Internet; cyber-crime; web-based crime outfit; ShadowCrew; the U.S. Secret Service; e-business; Internet security
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Networks of Influence
This investigation revealed the communication industry has spent $1.1 billion since 1998 to obtain political influence--more than twice a much as the oil and gas industry spent. Money spent on supporting candidates, lobbying, junkets and the practice of government officials leaving their jobs to work for the industries they used to regulate were all scrutinized. While broadcasters usually spent and equal amount of money supporting republicans and democrats, Sinclair Broadcasting Group spent more than 95% on republicans only. Detailed graphs included make the story easy to understand.
Tags: On-line; FCC; Federal Communications Commission; telecommunications; broadcast; political influence; lobby; television; radio; junket; Telecommunications Act of 1996; General Electric; Sinclair; Time Warner
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"Soft Target Security"
Using hidden cameras, the KIRO Team 7 investigates the vulnerability of telecommunications plants, as well as the largest natural gas plant on the West Coast. While terrorism and security remain huge issues in the nation's capital, reporters were able to walk in without being questioned or asked to show ID. KIRO Team 7 also investigates the a FBI investigation of a criminal who has breached security at these plants several times, severing major wires and disabling lines to 911 dispatchers.
Tags: soft targets; telecommunication security; Qwest Telecommunications; AT&T; MCI
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Split Decisions
"Investment companies owned by Denver billionaire and Qwest founder Phil Anschutz put money into numerous telecommunications companies that sought or did do business with Qwest. Those companies often saw their stock shoot up after initial public offerings on the news that they might get contracts with Qwest, which was known as the 'kingmaker' of telcos in the go-go days. The potential conflict was that Anschutz was making money off companies who were seeking contracts with the company where he was co-chairman of the board."
Tags: None
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Well Connected
This is a series of stories on media ownership in hometowns of each of the five FCC commissioners. The articles cover information including profiles of the 44 largest telecommunication companies in America, profit information, stock holdings of directors and salaries of top officials. The stories uncover the amounts being spent on FCC officials on travel and entertainment. It also shows how the FCC relies on data provided by the private industry while making decisions that are supposed to be in the public interest.
Tags: Federal Communications Commission; Media Ownership; Telecommunications
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Wring Out The Old
Never say never in the telecommunications industry. This is precisely what the young heads of QWest learnt after their manic adrenaline rush while writing off old-school US West employees and boasting of new rapid business models. Westword analyzes the full circle that QWest have come after nearly bullying over telephone company US West and firing their employees. Riding high on the stock wave soon after they took off, the new-age telecom player (QWest) were eaten up by the dotcom bust in the late '90's. Currently they face allegations of all sorts- from SEC filings to unfair pensioners policies and biased executive compensation packages.
Tags: QWest; Aeillo; US West; telecommunications; Nacchio
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Politicians' Telecoms Wronged Consumers
copy of story #21156
Tags: telecommunications; telecom; phone; slamming; politics; CAR; consumer protection