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HP CEO Hurd Approved ‘Sting’ on Journalist, Report Says
SAN
FRANCISCO (Sept. 06) – Hewlett-Packard Co.’s Chief Executive Mark Hurd
had approved a “sting” operation on a reporter to investigate boardroom
media leaks, The Washington Post reported, and embattled Chairman
Patricia Dunn said she looked forward to “setting the record straight”
soon.The Post said in its Thursday edition that an e-mail by a company
lawyer to Dunn was the first document linking Hurd to the internal
investigation which is now the subject of criminal probes. Private
investigators impersonated people to gain the phone records of
directors, HP employees and reporters, the company has acknowledged.”I
spoke to Mark (Hurd) a few minutes ago and he fine with both the
concept and the content,” of the sting, senior counsel Kevin Hunsaker
told Dunn in a February 23 e-mail, according to the Post.Dunn, who
spearheaded the internal leak probe, was inducted Wednesday night into
the Bay Area Council’s Hall of Fame and made her first public comments
since reports appeared this week that deepened the scandal. The issue
erupted when HP disclosed its potentially illegal investigation on
September 6.Dunn announced this month that she would not serve
as chairman beyond January, but would remain on the board.”Please be
aware I am fully alive to the irony of being inducted into the Bay Area
Council Business Hall of Fame,” Dunn told members at the Bay Area trade
group on Wednesday night. “I look forward to the time in the near
future when I can set the record straight.”HP said earlier that Hurd
would hold a press conference in the Bay Area on Friday “regarding the
board leak investigation.” HP spokesman Ryan Dononvan declined further
comment, and the Post said HP also declined to comment on its report.
It was not clear whether Dunn would be at the news conference.With
Dunn’s installation into the Hall of Fame, she joins honorees including
Larry Sonsini, Silicon Valley’s most prominent attorney, who has agreed
to testify regarding his role in the leak investigation at a U.S. House
subcommittee hearing. She also joins HP founders David Hewlett and
William Packard.The Post report said Hunsaker, who led the
investigation ordered by Dunn, and an HP colleague in Boston concocted
a fictitious personal, “Jacob,” who would pose as a disgruntled HP
executive to cultivate a reporter at technology news Web site Cnet.The
plan was to lure the reporter to open an e-mail attachment with
software that would let HP see where the e-mail was forwarded, hoping
it would pinpoint board member George Keyworth as the source. Keyworth
has since resigned from the HP board.California State Attorney
General Bill Lockyer said earlier on Wednesday he does not know when
his office would issue any indictments.”We’re still in the middle of
following the chains of communications,” Lockyer said in a telephone
interview. “We don’t yet know for sure which people (will be indicted)
or how soon we’ll complete the investigative work.”HP is under scrutiny
by both state and U.S. prosecutors over whether the company used
illegal tactics to obtain phone records of directors, at least two HP
employees and journalists, as part of its inquiry to find the source of
boardroom leaks to the media dating back to 2005.The Wall Street
Journal, citing internal e-mails, reported on Wednesday that Dunn
personally helped direct the leak investigation. The New York Times
also reported on Wednesday that HP had studied the feasibility of
placing spies in the newsrooms of two publications as part of the
investigation.HP-Gate: New spying claims
September
2006 — Palo Alto (CA): Hewlett-Packard (HP) allegedly considered
planting spies in the offices of news corporations, The Wall Street
Journal and CNET Networks, according to the New York Times.It is
alleged that the company’s management team was briefed on the
possibilities of investigators posing as administrative or custodial
staff at the news companies.The paper cites an anonymous individual
acquainted with HP’s investigation techniques.
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