Dateline on Computer Hacking

Affiliation: NBC

In this NBC Dateline episode from 1992, the hosts expose how hackers are easily able to break into the computer systems of large companies. However, the topic of computer hacking in this episode is not the only reason for its significance in ethics-related coursework. In this Dateline episode, one of the featured computer hackers displayed a bogus "secret government file on UFOs" on his screen as the host narrated what was going on. While the hackers did indeed hack into the computer systems of the government and large corporations, the bit about UFOs was made up, making this an early example of people "faking the news."

Keywords: Misinformation/Disinformation , Tech Ethics