经济学人62:语言识别软件帮助公司擒获不法之徒

 　　Business

　　商业

　　Corporate¹ fraud

　　公司欺诈行为

　　Mind your language

　　谨言慎行

　　How linguistic³ software helps companies catch crooks⁴

　　语言识别软件帮助公司擒获不法之徒

　　IN THE film "Superman 3", a lowly computer programmer (played by Richard Pryor, pictured) embezzles⁵ a fat wad of money from his employer.

　　在电影《超人3》中，一位地位低的电脑程序员（上图，理查德?普莱尔[Richard Pryor]饰演）盗走雇主一大笔钱。

　　The boss laments⁶ that it will be hard to catch the thief, because "he won't do a thing to call attention to himself. Unless, of course, he is a complete and utter moron⁷."

　　老板悲伤至极，哀嚎着抓住窃贼可不容易，因为"窃贼可不会显露自己的踪迹，除非他完全是个十足的傻瓜。"

　　Just then the thief screeches⁸ into the car park in a brand new red sports car, radio blaring.

　　就在此时，窃贼溜到停车场，钻进一辆全新的红色跑车中，广播大声响起。

　　In the real world, embezzlers are seldom so obvious.

　　现实世界中，盗贼很少如此名目张胆。

　　The traditional way to snare⁹ them is to hire an accountant to scrutinise accounts for anomalies.

　　要抓到他们的传统方法就是雇佣一位会计，审查账户不正常交易。

　　But this is like looking for a contact lens in a snowdrift.

　　但是这就像是在飘雪中找寻隐形眼镜（大海捞针）。

　　So firms are turning to linguistic software to narrow the search.

　　因此，公司就借助语言识别软件来缩小搜查范围。

　　Rip-offs tend to occur in what gumshoes call the "fraud triangle": where incentive¹⁰, rationalisation and opportunity meet.

　　盗窃常常出现于侦探所说的"诈骗三因素"，即动机、理由及机会三者相满足的时候。

　　To spot staff with the incentive to steal (over and above the obvious fact that money is quite useful), anti-fraud software scans e-mails for evidence of money troubles.

　　（除了找到急需用钱的明显事实外）为了识别有偷窃动机的员工，反欺诈侦破软件搜寻邮件寻找有财务问题的证据。

　　Phrases like "under the gun" and "make sales quota¹¹" can indicate that an employee is desperate for a bit extra.

　　或许像"债台高筑"与"限额销售"会表明有雇员急需一笔意外之财。

　　Spotting rationalisation is harder.

　　要找到合理的理由就更难。

　　One technique is to identify those who seem unhappy about their jobs, since some may rationalise wrongdoing by telling themselves that their employer is an evil corporation that deserves to be ripped off.

　　一种技巧就是找到似乎对自己的工作不满意的员工，因为有些人可能会告诉自己雇主是家品行不端的公司，遭到窃取利索应当，以此为自己的犯罪行为找到理由。

　　Ernst & Young (E&Y), a consultancy, offers software that purports¹² to show an employee's emotional state over time: spikes¹³ in trend-lines reading "confused", "secretive" or "angry" help investigators¹⁴ know whose e-mail to check, and when.

　　安永会计师事务所多提供的软件据称可追踪雇员不同时间内的情绪变化：趋势线中的峰值显示"困惑"，"秘密"或"愤怒"，帮助调查者知道该检查谁的电子邮件，何时检查。

　　Other software can help firms find potential malefactors moronic¹⁵ enough to gripe online, says Jean-Fran?ois Legault of Deloitte, another consultancy.

　　还有其他软件可以帮助公司发现在网上抱怨的笨蛋，识别潜在罪犯，另一会计师事务所德勤的Jean-Fran?ois Legault说。

　　To work well, linguistic software must adjust to the way different people talk.

　　为了产生效果，语言识别软件必须根据不同人群的交谈方式调整侦测。

　　For example, when software gurus at E&Y looked at e-mails among financial traders, their first impression was that "these guys' hair is on fire," recalls Vincent Walden, a fraudbuster at the firm. The e-mails were packed solid with swear-words.

　　例如，安永公司的软件专家检查金融交易员彼此的电子邮件时，他们的第一反应就是"这些小伙子火气很大"，该公司的反欺诈专员文森特?瓦尔登（Vincent Walden）说。

　　But this is how traders normally talk.

　　这些电子邮件中特别多的污言秽语。

　　It is when they go quiet that the software must prick¹⁶ up its electronic ears.

　　但交易员通常就是这么讲话。反倒是在交易员安静无声的时候，该软件必须保持警惕。

　　Dick Oehrle, the chief linguist² on the project, explains how it works.

　　该项目的首席语言学家Dick Oehrle特别讲解了该软件的工作原理。

　　First, the algorithm digests a big bundle of e-mails to get used to employees' language.

　　首先，计算程序中输入众多电子邮件，以熟悉雇员的语言。

　　Then human lawyers code the same e-mails, sorting things as irrelevant¹⁷, relevant or serious.

　　然后由人类律师将同类邮件分为"无关"，"相关"或"严重"等级别。

　　The human feedback and the computers' results are then reconciled, so the system gets smarter.

　　人类反馈与电脑结果达成一致，那么这个系统就会变得灵巧。

　　Mr Oehrle says the lawyers also learn from the computers (presumably such things as empathy and the difference between right and wrong).

　　Oehrle先生说，律师也可通过电脑学习东西（例如移情、对错的区别这些都有可能）。

　　To find employees with the opportunity to steal, the software looks for what snoops call "out of band" events: messages such as "call my mobile" or "come by my office" suggest a desire to talk without being overheard.

　　为了找到有盗窃机会的雇员，该软件搜寻侦探所说的"域外"情形：例如"打我电话"或"来我办公室"这类信息就表明不想谈话被听到。

　　E-mails between an employee and an outsider that contain the words "beer", "Facebook" or "evening" can suggest a personal relationship.

　　雇员与公司外的人之间的电子邮件含有"啤酒"、"Facebook"或"晚上"这类词汇就表明私交过密。

　　Your e-mails may be aired in court

　　您的电子邮件有可能作为成堂供物

　　Financial Tracking Technologies, a firm based in Connecticut, goes a step further, making software that can go through calendar apps and travel-expense claims to determine who has come into contact with certain outside investors¹⁸.

　　总部位于康涅狄格州的金融追踪技术公司（Financial Tracking Technologies）跟进一步，做出的软件可以搜寻日历应用程序及出差报销单，以确认哪位成与某个外部投资商联系。

　　This can be married with information about the timing¹⁹ of trades: for example, a short sale before the public release of bad news, says Tony Turner, the company's boss.

　　该软件可与交易时机有关的信息联系到一起：如在坏消息公开之前抛售。该公司所有者托尼?特纳（Tony Turner）说。

　　Or consider a broker²⁰ who e-mails someone a question about the trading volume at which a certain stock would be likely to rise (or fall).

　　或者审核交易员向某人发送邮件询问可能影响某只股票升（或跌）的交易数量。

　　This might indicate an interest in manipulating the price.

　　这就有可能表明有操纵价格的倾向。

　　So the software will sift²¹ through other data to see if the broker would benefit, even indirectly²², perhaps by increasing the value of a derivative²³ in his personal portfolio²⁴, says Frederic Boulier, a Paris-based director of NICE Actimize, an American firm.

　　因此该软件要过滤其他数据，以确定该交易员是否有可能（甚至是间接）通过增加个人投资组合中一个衍生品的价值来获利，总部位于巴黎的美国公司NICE Actimize的经理Frederic Boulier说。

　　Employers without such technology are "operating blind", says Alton Sizemore, a former fraud detective at America's FBI.

　　侦测人员没有此类技术的协助就会"盲目操作"，一位前美国联邦调查局反欺诈探员奥尔顿?希斯莫尔（Alton Sizemore）说。

　　They often pursue costly²⁵ investigations²⁶ based on hunches²⁷, which are usually wrong, he says.

　　根据直觉进行的调查通常是错误的，而且耗费很高，他说。

　　Mr Sizemore, who now works for Forensic/Strategic Solutions, an anti-fraud consultancy in Alabama, reckons that nearly all giant financial firms now run anti-fraud linguistic software, but fewer than half of medium-sized or small financial firms do.

　　希斯莫尔先生先任职于总部位于阿拉巴马州的反欺诈咨询公司法庭/战略解决方案公司（Forensic/Strategic Solutions），他认为几乎所有大型金融公司现在都有反欺诈语言识别软件，但是投入力度仍不及中小型金融公司的一半。

　　So there is plenty of room for growth.

　　因此，此类软件还有很大的增长空间。

　　NICE Actimize says its revenues are steadily²⁸ rising, though it declines to give figures.

　　NICE Actimize说该公司的收益逐年上升，但其拒绝提供数据。

　　Prospective²⁹ users typically pay for a single "snapshot" search of 12 months of company records, according to APEX³⁰ Analytix, a developer of the software in Greensboro, North Carolina.

　　据位于北开罗莱纳州格林斯博罗的软件开发商APEX Analytix称，潜在用户特别会购买公司全年12月数据"快照"搜寻的单一服务。

　　For a company with 10,000 employees, this costs about $45,000.

　　对一间有万名员工的公司来说，此项花费约4.5万美元。

　　Unless a company is very small, evidence of fraud almost always surfaces, convincing clients to sign up for a yearly package that costs three or four times as much as a spot-check, says John Brocar of APEX Analytix.

　　除非公司规模很小，使用软件欺诈的证据总会查到，APEX Analytix公司的约翰?博罗卡（John Brocar）意图说服客户签购要比抽查贵两到三倍的全年软件包时说。

　　Why spend the money?

　　为什么要花这笔钱？

　　Partly because no one likes to be ripped off.

　　部分原因是没有公司愿意被窃取资产。

　　But also because laws on bribery³¹ (which is harder to spot than theft) have grown tougher.

　　而且也因为贿赂（这要比偷窃更难监察）监管法律越来越严厉。

　　American bosses can in theory be jailed if their underlings grease palms.

　　如果美国公司的老总们的下属有贿赂行为，理论上他们也会受刑。

　　Jonas Dischl-Luell of AWK Group, a Swiss firm, sells software that scans e-mail addresses to see if any employees are in contact, even indirectly, with officials in corrupt³² governments.

　　瑞士AKW集团的Jonas Dischl-Luell销售搜寻电子邮件地址，查看是否有员工与腐败政府的官员有往来，甚至是间接往来。

　　If a company shows it has systems in place to detect this kind of thing, and starts investigating before outsiders do, it may have an easier time in court.

　　如果一间公司证明已安装侦查此类行为的系统，并在外部进行调查前已先行展开调查，那么在法庭上便有据可出，从容应对。

1 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

2 linguist   

n.语言学家；精通数种外国语言者

参考例句：

• I used to be a linguist till I become a writer.过去我是个语言学家，后来成了作家。
• Professor Cui has a high reputation as a linguist.崔教授作为语言学家名声很高。

3 linguistic   

adj.语言的，语言学的

参考例句：

• She is pursuing her linguistic researches.她在从事语言学的研究。
• The ability to write is a supreme test of linguistic competence.写作能力是对语言能力的最高形式的测试。

4 crooks   

n.骗子( crook的名词复数 )；罪犯；弯曲部分；（牧羊人或主教用的）弯拐杖v.弯成钩形( crook的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The police are getting after the crooks in the city. 警察在城里追捕小偷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cops got the crooks. 警察捉到了那些罪犯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 embezzles   

v.贪污，盗用（公款）( embezzle的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

6 laments   

n.悲恸，哀歌，挽歌( lament的名词复数 )v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In the poem he laments the destruction of the countryside. 在那首诗里他对乡村遭到的破坏流露出悲哀。
• In this book he laments the slight interest shown in his writings. 在该书中他慨叹人们对他的著作兴趣微弱。 来自辞典例句

7 moron   

n.极蠢之人，低能儿

参考例句：

• I used to think that Gordon was a moron.我曾以为戈登是个白痴。
• He's an absolute moron!他纯粹是个傻子！

8 screeches   

n.尖锐的声音( screech的名词复数 )v.发出尖叫声( screech的第三人称单数 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫

参考例句：

• The boy's screeches brought his mother. 男孩的尖叫声招来了他母亲。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The woman's screeches brought the police. 这个妇女的尖叫声招来了警察。 来自辞典例句

9 snare   

n.陷阱，诱惑，圈套；（去除息肉或者肿瘤的）勒除器；响弦，小军鼓；vt.以陷阱捕获，诱惑

参考例句：

• I used to snare small birds such as sparrows.我曾常用罗网捕捉麻雀等小鸟。
• Most of the people realized that their scheme was simply a snare and a delusion.大多数人都认识到他们的诡计不过是一个骗人的圈套。

10 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

11 quota   

n.（生产、进出口等的）配额，（移民的）限额

参考例句：

• A restricted import quota was set for meat products.肉类产品设定了进口配额。
• He overfulfilled his production quota for two months running.他一连两个月超额完成生产指标。

12 purports   

v.声称是…，（装得）像是…的样子( purport的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She purports to represent the whole group. 她自称代表整个团体。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The document purports to be official but is really private. 那份文件据称是官方的，但实际上是私人的。 来自辞典例句

13 spikes   

n.穗( spike的名词复数 )；跑鞋；（防滑）鞋钉；尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划

参考例句：

• a row of iron spikes on a wall 墙头的一排尖铁
• There is a row of spikes on top of the prison wall to prevent the prisoners escaping. 监狱墙头装有一排尖钉，以防犯人逃跑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 moronic   

a.低能的

参考例句：

• He came down here to find investors for that moronic club of his. 他来这里给他那个白痴俱乐部找投资人。
• My best friend is so moronic sometimes. Yesterday he ran my foot over with his car! 有时候我最好的朋友可真是个二百五（十三点）。昨天他居然用他的车来压我的脚！

16 prick   

v.刺伤，刺痛，刺孔；n.刺伤，刺痛

参考例句：

• He felt a sharp prick when he stepped on an upturned nail.当他踩在一个尖朝上的钉子上时，他感到剧烈的疼痛。
• He burst the balloon with a prick of the pin.他用针一戳，气球就爆了。

17 irrelevant   

adj.不恰当的，无关系的，不相干的

参考例句：

• That is completely irrelevant to the subject under discussion.这跟讨论的主题完全不相关。
• A question about arithmetic is irrelevant in a music lesson.在音乐课上，一个数学的问题是风马牛不相及的。

18 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

19 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

20 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

21 sift   

v.筛撒，纷落，详察

参考例句：

• Sift out the wheat from the chaff.把小麦的壳筛出来。
• Sift sugar on top of the cake.在蛋糕上面撒上糖。

22 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

23 derivative   

n.派(衍)生物；adj.非独创性的，模仿他人的

参考例句：

• His paintings are really quite derivative.他的画实在没有创意。
• Derivative works are far more complicated.派生作品更加复杂。

24 portfolio   

n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位

参考例句：

• He remembered her because she was carrying a large portfolio.他因为她带着一个大公文包而记住了她。
• He resigned his portfolio.他辞去了大臣职务。

25 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

26 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

27 hunches   

预感，直觉( hunch的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A technical sergeant hunches in a cubicle. 一位技术军士在一间小屋里弯腰坐着。
• We often test our hunches on each other. 我们经常互相检验我们的第六感觉。

28 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

29 prospective   

adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的

参考例句：

• The story should act as a warning to other prospective buyers.这篇报道应该对其他潜在的购买者起到警示作用。
• They have all these great activities for prospective freshmen.这会举办各种各样的活动来招待未来的新人。

30 apex   

n.顶点，最高点

参考例句：

• He reached the apex of power in the early 1930s.他在三十年代初达到了权力的顶峰。
• His election to the presidency was the apex of his career.当选总统是他一生事业的顶峰。

31 bribery   

n.贿络行为，行贿，受贿

参考例句：

• FBI found out that the senator committed bribery.美国联邦调查局查明这个参议员有受贿行为。
• He was charged with bribery.他被指控受贿。

32 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。