Panel adds 5 investigators to HP data hearing
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A House of Representatives panel on  Wednesday extended its probe into Hewlett-Packard Co.'s use of  private telephone records by subpoenaing five private  investigators to testify at a Thursday hearing.
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(InfoWorld) - Hewlett-Packard obtained the telephone records of nine reporters as part of its internal probe of information leaks, the company confirmed Thursday. The company sent the list of the nine reporters to the Office of the Attorney General of the State of California, in response to the Attorney General's inquiries. "HP is dismayed that the phone records of journalists were accessed without their knowledge, and we are fully cooperating with the attorney general's investigation," said company spokesman Ryan Donovan. In an Aug. 31 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),Â HP admittedÂ that an outside investigator had used "pretexting," a technique in which an investigator may obtain information by disguising their identity. HP's internal investigation was sparked by what the company said were "multiple leaks of confidential HP information," including discussions by the board of directors, HP said in the SEC filing. At a May 18 board meeting, HP board members asked fellow director George A. Keyworth II to resign, as a source of those leaks. He declined, but Thomas J. Perkins did resign over a dispute with HP's Nonexecutive Chairman Patricia Dunn over the investigation's handling, the company said. The California Attorney General has asked HP for information about techniques used in the leak investigation, while the SEC is making inquiries into a filing HP made when Perkins resigned. HP's Donovan confirmed reports that among the journalists whose phone records were accessed were a reporter from The Wall Street Journal and a reporter from CNet Networks. He declined to name the other reporters. The Wall Street Journal and CNet published reports including leaked information from board meetings. The leaks to the Wall Street Journal included information about discussions leading up to the firing of Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina last year. The Attorney General's office declined to name the reporters on the list handed over by HP. (Additional reporting by Stephen Lawson in San Francisco.) Â
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One after another yesterday morning, 10 of the 14 people summoned by Congress to testify about their role in a spying scandal that has rocked Hewlett-Packard Co. spoke into the microphone and invoked a constitutional right against self-incrimination: the Fifth Amendment.
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Hewlett-Packard's HPQ.N board met   on Sunday and plans to meet again on Monday, leaving open the   question of chairman Patricia Dunn's fate as she comes under   fire for her role in ordering a controversial board   investigation into media leaks.
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As scandal over HP methods mushrooms, House plans investigatory hearings; company reps will likely be called to testify.
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Hewlett-Packard Chairman Patricia Dunn will answer questions on the spying scandal that has embroiled her company during a House committee hearing on Capitol Hill next week.
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Documents offer new details of HP's leak hunt, including info Patricia Dunn shared with private investigators.
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An attorney hired by Hewlett-Packard to investigate the conduct of HP and outside investigators has provided new details of his firm's investigation ofÂ news leaks from the HP board.
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Hewlett-Packard Co.  is  under investigation by U.S. federal prosecutors over its  inquiry into boardroom leaks to the press, authorities said on  Monday, adding to the computer maker's legal woes.
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SAN JOSE, Calif. -- A c ongressional committee yesterday asked Hewlett-Packard Co. to turn over records related to the firm's possibly illegal investigation of media leaks, as the company's board planned to meet again to discuss the fate of chairwoman Patricia Dunn.
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By Rachel Konrad  Hewlett-Packard Co. Chairwoman Patricia Dunn is under scrutiny from business and ethics experts after she oversaw an invasive and possibly illegal effort to snoop into the home phone calls of fellow HP board members.
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Mobile providers and the heads of the FTC and FCC have been summoned to a second day of House subcommittee hearings this week as Congress continues its investigation of the HP boardroom spying scandal.
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(InfoWorld) - A U.S. government panel has asked a corporate ethics lawyer from Hewlett-Packard (HP) to testify in its Sept. 28 hearing onÂ the company's use of "pretexting"Â to spy on journalists, board members and other employees. The investigative unit of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce CommitteeÂ said Wednesday that it has asked HP Senior Counsel Kevin Hunsaker and Fred Adler, a company computer security investigator, to join a growing list of witnesses. The subcommittee had also previously requested testimony from outgoing HP Chairman Patricia Dunn, HP General Counsel Ann Baskins, HP Global Security Manager Anthony Gentilucci, outside attorney Larry Sonsini as well as outside investigators. The practice of "pretexting" usually involves pretending to be a person, in order to obtain that person's personal information. An HP spokesman declined to comment. Up until now, Dunn has insisted she merely initiated the probe of boardroom leaks, and was ignorant of specific techniques used by investigators. "Unfortunately, the investigation, which was conducted with third parties, included certain inappropriate techniques. These went beyond what we understood them to be, and I apologize that they were employed," Dunn said in a recent statement. ButÂ e-mail correspondence examined by newspapersÂ including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times indicates that top HP officials solicited Dunn's opinion and questioned investigation techniques throughout the course of the leak probe. As early as Aug. 6, 2005, HP's Gentilucci asked for Dunn's advice about using "internal and external sources" to gather intelligence on "interested parties," according to company e-mail seen by The Wall Street Journal. Gentilucci offered to brief HP management on more details of "Project Kona" in a proposed meeting on Aug. 31. It is still unknown if that meeting took place, but Dunn replied to the e-mail, promising to respond. By Jan. 28, 2006, e-mail from Hunsaker to Adler shows that HP's own lawyers were closely questioning investigation techniques, The Wall Street Journal reports. Asked whether HP could legally spy on board members' cell-phone text messages, Adler replied: "Even if we could legally obtain the records, which we can't unless we pay the bill or get consent, I would highly suspect text-messaging records are not kept due to volume and expense." It is unclear if HP obtained text messages. But in an April 28 e-mail to Gentilucci and an outside investigator, Ron DeLia of Security Outsourcing Solutions Inc., in Boston, Hunsaker said he was writing at General Counsel Baskins' request to confirm the details of how the investigation team obtained phone records, The Wall Street Journal reports. In the e-mail, Hunsaker described how investigators were making "pretext calls." Hunsaker also said in the e-mail that his legal research confirmed that pretexting is legal. However, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer has said that using fraudulent means to obtain personal information is not legal in the state. Lockyer has said he has evidence to charge people outside and inside HP. House investigators have also asked for testimony from DeLia and private investigator Joe Depante, owner of Action Research Group, which was reportedly hired by HP to help in the investigation. Dunn agreed on Sept. 12 to resign her own position, and will be replaced in January by current chief executive Mark Hurd. Â
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California's attorney general is preparing to file criminal complaints today against ousted Hewlett-Packard Co. chairman Patricia C. Dunn and four others for their roles in the Hewlett-Packard Co. spying operation that surfaced last month, according to sources close to the case.
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House committee calls more witnesses to testify in HP scandal.
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A Congressional committee, federal prosecutors and the FBI all join California's Attorney General to investigate the legalities of Hewlett Packard's questionable information-gathering methods.
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SAN JOSE, Calif. -- A Congressional committee on Monday asked Hewlett-Packard Co. to turn over records related to the company's possibly illegal investigation of media leaks, as the company's board planned to meet again to discuss the fate of embattled Chairwoman Patricia Dunn.