Hewlett-Packard spying scandal

The media descended upon HP headquarters on September 22, 2006.

On September 5, 2006, Newsweek revealed[1] that the general counsel of Hewlett-Packard, at the behest of HP chairwoman Patricia Dunn, had contracted a team of independent security experts to investigate board members and several journalists in order to identify the source of an information leak.[2] In turn, those security experts recruited private investigators who used a spying technique known as pretexting. The pretexting involved investigators impersonating HP board members and nine journalists (including reporters for CNET, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal) in order to obtain their phone records. The information leaked related to HP's long-term strategy and was published as part of a CNET article[3] in January 2006. HP hired public relations firm Sitrick and Company to manage their media relations during the crisis.[4]

Patricia Dunn claimed she did not know beforehand the methods the investigators used to try to determine the source of the leak.[5] Board member George Keyworth was ultimately accused of being the source and on September 12, 2006, he resigned, although he continued to deny making unauthorized disclosures of confidential information to journalists and was thanked by Mark Hurd for his board service.[6] It was also announced at that time that Dunn would continue as chairwoman until January 18, 2007, at which point HP CEO Mark Hurd would succeed her.[7] Then, on September 22, 2006 HP announced that Dunn had resigned as chairwoman because of the "distraction her presence on our board" created.[8] On September 28, 2006, Ann Baskins, HP's general counsel, resigned[9] hours before she was to appear as a witness before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, where she would ultimately invoke the Fifth Amendment to refuse to answer questions.[10]

  1. ^ PM, David A. Kaplan On 9/17/06 at 8:00 (September 17, 2006). "Suspicions and Spies in Silicon Valley". Newsweek. Archived from the original on February 2, 2019. Retrieved February 1, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ The comprehensive story of HP spying scandal along with critical discussion on involving corporate governance and ethical issues is available at Davani, Faraz (August 14, 2011). "HP Pretexting Scandal by Faraz Davani". Scribd. Archived from the original on November 18, 2011. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
  3. ^ Kawamoto, Dawn. "HP outlines long-term strategy". CNET. Archived from the original on February 2, 2019. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  4. ^ Altus, Celest (September 12, 2006), "HP Taps Sitrick & Company as crisis grows", PRWeek, archived from the original on March 29, 2012, retrieved September 10, 2011
  5. ^ Kopytoff, Verne; Guynn, Jessica (September 8, 2006). "HP chairwoman defends probe of board's leaks". The San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on May 24, 2011.
  6. ^ "HP Press Release: George Keyworth Resigns as HP Director". hp.com. September 12, 2006. Archived from the original on December 21, 2006. Retrieved February 1, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^ Kessler, Michelle; Hopkins, Jim (September 13, 2006). "New HP chief makes the best of a bad situation". USA Today. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved September 25, 2006.
  8. ^ "HP Press Release: Patricia Dunn Resigns from HP Board". hp.com. September 22, 2006. Archived from the original on October 29, 2006. Retrieved February 1, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. ^ "HP General Counsel Resigns". HP Investor Relations – Financial news. November 5, 2006. Archived from the original on November 5, 2006. Retrieved February 1, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  10. ^ Wong, Grace (September 28, 2006). "HP: Grueling day for Hurd & Dunn". CNN. Archived from the original on June 22, 2021. Retrieved September 28, 2006.