investigation

Investigator Report claims that it is "quickly becoming the standard" when it comes to software for private investigators. Although the program seems to have a lot of useful features, we find this a little hard to believe, given its clunky interface.

We were turned off by the program almost immediately when we opened it and the creepy Microsoft Sam text-to-speech voice announced, "Investigator Report." From there, it only got worse; the program announces the name of each module as it's opened, and there doesn't seem to be any way to turn this annoying and … Read more

First, the good news for consumers: the U.S. government's investigation into how dozens of well-known online stores worked with controversial marketers to "deceive" customers out of $1.4 billion has prompted some retailers, including Continental Airlines, to sever ties with the marketers.

Now, the bad news: the marketers--Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty--are still in business and judging from the responses of many of the retailers involved, such as Priceline, Classmates.com, FTD, Shutterfly, and Orbitz, it will be business as usual. They see nothing wrong with the marketing practices that millions of angry online shoppers and members … Read more

SEO Tutorial offers tips and history on how to get the most visibility out of a Web site. Focusing on search engine optimization, this ebook is a brisk, useful read.

The program's interface was surprisingly good. We'd tested ebooks before and were not impressed, but this was written in a very readable tone and made it simple to jump to specific topics. The book primarily consisted of short, one- or two-paragraph explanations on various aspects of improving Web site visibility through search engines. The program featured chapters on the history of search engines, search engine basics, common mistakes, … Read more

Update 9:40 a.m. May 4: Added comment from the Postal Inspectors Service and details about when the breach took place.

This story was originally published at CBSNews.com.

CBS News has learned of another data breach potentially compromising the personal information of thousands of people. Companies Lexis Nexis and Investigative Professionals have sent up to 40,000 letters to customers whose "sensitive and personally identifiable" information may have been viewed by individuals who should not have had access.

The United States Postal Inspection Service is investigating a data breach at both companies that resulted in sensitive … Read more

Updated at 9 p.m. PDT with more details from a Symantec representative.

Symantec is investigating allegations that a call center in India leaked credit card numbers of its customers to someone who then sold them to BBC News reporters posing as criminals.

The security company has informed U.K. privacy authorities and attorneys general and officials in eight U.S. states and Puerto Rico of the allegations that three U.K. customers had credit card information leaked and that about 200 U.S. customers may have been affected because of interactions with the call center, Symantec spokesman Cris Paden … Read more

Pornography in the workplace can pose a serious problem for employers because a significant amount of material is downloaded by employees during business hours.

The viewing of porn at work can result in lost time, creativity, productivity, and employer profitability. More importantly, it can help create a hostile work environment and can be considered sexual harassment, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Naturally, corporations want to avoid the potentially serious legal consequences and protect their bottom line.

On Sunday, Orem, Utah-based forensic-software maker Paraben plans to introduce a unique piece of enterprise software developed … Read more

We take it for granted, mostly, that the water that comes into our homes is safe to consume. Sure, we may run the tap for 30 seconds or so to clear out rusty sediment or traces of lead, and every once in a while there's an E. coli scare. Many of us, too, filter the water, either at the tap or in a container for the fridge.

But now there's something new to worry about. After an in-depth, five-month investigation, the Associated Press is reporting that the supply of drinking water in many U.S. metropolitan areas--accessible to … Read more

Hitting .300 or shooting 30 percent might be a standard of excellence in professional baseball and basketball, but in computer repair? Not exactly MVP material.

The Consumerist links to CBC Marketwatch's undercover investigation of PC repair services, which shows that employees often have a startling lack of basic knowledge about the machines they are paid to fix. Plus, while they're misdiagnosing your technical problems, they'll likely overcharge you, and maybe even access your personal files for good measure.

Scary stuff for the technophobe or anyone who doesn't have the time or resources to fix a computer. … Read more

Dell actually beat analysts' expectations Thursday when it released the preliminary results of its earnings for the second quarter of fiscal year 2008, but again opted against the traditional follow-up conference call with company executives, investors and the media.

Dell has failed to file its last six quarterly earnings reports and its last annual report with the SEC due to the company's internal investigation into its accounting practices. The probe, which was wrapped up earlier this month, found that Dell accountants were regularly fudging quarterly earnings numbers as far back as 2003 to meet or surpass Wall Street expectations. … Read more