RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK — Some entrepreneurial companies see opportunity even in the midst of scandal.

Pinkerton Consulting & Investigations, for example.

The detective outfit that has been around since 1850 and made life miserable for Wild West outlaws is ready to corral corporate outlaws as part of the Fed’s belated crackdown on Wall Street crooks. The CI group is based out of Charlotte and bills itself as “The global leader in security consulting, investigations and business risk services”.

Pinkerton announced Monday plans for an “AlertLine” service that corporate employees can contact to tip off investigators about possible abuse. To provide Internet complaints, clients of AlertLine can utilize an online service called IN-CHARGE Online. Pinkerton said it will provide “trained communication specialists” to take down the kind of insider information that could put “suits” in prison.

Why now? To meet a new need, Pinkerton said.

The company said AlertLine is in response to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, passed in July, which Local Tech Wire has reported about in-depth in recent days. (See Catherine L. Traugot’s five-part series which concludes today with advice on “quantitative analysts” who prowl corporate reports in search of the real story on a corporation’s finances.)

Citing figures from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Pinkerton said that corporate abuse costs stock holders and companies $600 billion a year. Sarbanes-Oxley requires that corporate board audit committees of public companies provide a means for employees to report the abuse. Confidentially and anonymously, of course, Pinkerton adds.

Thus, the birth of AlertLine and IN-CHARGE.

Pinkerton CI: www.ci-pinkerton.com

Charlotte: CyberSecurity Capital?

By the way, what’s going on in Charlotte? Not only is Pinkerton CI on the warpath but UNCC is one of only 11 universitys that are offering courses as part of a new Federal Cyber Corps program. See the story today by LTW’s Worth Civils.

Some light ready: Blair’s dossier on Iraq’s WMD

Thank goodness we have the Internet.

If you like to read the original source material without having to endure the editing and spinning by some news organization, a feast is available online about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has released a 55-page “dossier” on Saddam Hussein’s weapons program. If you dare, you can read the entire report online through a link provided by the BBC. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required.

Also, here’s a link to a breaking story from the UK highlighting the dossier (how ironic, “This Is London …” Remember?) :

http://www.thisislondon.com/dynamic/news/story.html?in_review_id=704483&in_review_text_id=678220

The Saddam dossier: www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/reports/international/iraqdossier.pdf

Rick Smith is managing editor of Local Tech Wire.

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