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"I am not happy that the way this investigation has been conducted has led to this major embarrassment," Dunn said in an interview with CNET News.com. Asked if she believed pretexting is illegal, Dunn replied, "I have no idea, but it's wrong."
Dunn has been at the center of a controversy involving the ordinarily secret activities of HP's boardroom. After leaks to the press beginning in 2005, Dunn ordered an investigation of board members that led one to resign and another not to be renominated.
HP's boardroom drama
In pretexting, one person masquerades as another to obtain private information such as phone records. HP said in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it hired an investigation company to try to track down board leaks to the media. The company in turn hired a contractor that used pretexting to scrutinize board members, HP said. The technology giant acknowledged on Thursday that the phone records of nine reporters, including two from News.com, were also accessed.
Dunn has no plans to resign, she said. "If the board wants me to resign, I will absolutely accept their judgment on this," Dunn said. "I have full confidence that if they ask me to, it'll be the right thing to do for shareholders."
The board will have an opportunity to discuss the investigation and its consequences on Sunday. The directors scheduled a meeting by telephone conference call, HP spokesman Ryan Donovan said. Such phone meetings are scheduled "from time to time...on other issues that come up," he said.
And HP has taken measures to ensure that pretexting won't be a problem for it again. "Pretexting will no longer be permitted as a part of any HP investigation," Dunn said.
HP has refused to disclose which company it hired for the investigation, and Dunn also wasn't forthcoming. "I don't know what the name of the firm is," she said. "I worked through HP resources to get the outside firm," which HP also used in the past, she added.
But Dunn was closely involved in the investigation, according to Tom Perkins, the board member who resigned. According to a June 20 e-mail posted on The Wall Street Journal Web site, Perkins told HP's outside legal counsel, Larry Sonsini, "Larry, the investigation was a Pattie Dunn program, 100 percent conceived of and managed by her, and unknown to the board, except perhaps in the most vague and imprecise terms, with the possible exception of Mark, who she may have briefed."
Dunn also didn't know if investigators had used pretexting to examine HP employee records, she said. She said she learned of the use of pretexting to access journalists' phone records on Wednesday.
The probe included accessing phone records of two CNET News.com reporters, Dawn Kawamoto and Tom Krazit, according to the California attorney general's office. The two co-wrote a Jan. 23 story about a private, long-term strategy session held by HP's board of directors. The Wall Street Journal reporters Pui-Wing Tam and George Anders and The New York Times reporter John Markoff also were targeted using pretexting, those publications said.
Dunn personally apologized to the CNET News.com reporters Friday. "The information that has recently come to light about the involvement of reporters and the way they're involved in this investigation is highly regrettable, and I want to apologize individually on behalf of this board," she said. "Nobody had that in mind when this investigation was undertaken."
Indeed, she said, the investigation should have been conducted according to HP's standards.
"That investigation was authorized on the basis that everything done would be not only legal but fully compliant with HP's high standards for both ethics and business practices," she said. "I received assurances about that at every step of the way."
Dunn also went on the offensive in the interview, lashing out more than once at those whose leaks led to the investigation.
"This is a board who has suffered for a long period of time from egregious breaches of standards of business conduct. The board asked me to do something about it," she said. "Many directors thought the top priority was to figure out how to plug the leaks. We couldn't function as a board with these leaks continuing. This was not my spying on the board."
The leaking also has hurt HP's image, she said.
"HP's reputation has been damaged by a leaker who refused to come forward knowing this investigation was going on," she said, a person who "lied to the rest of the board, by omission and commission, about the fact that he was the source of this information for a long period of time."
See more CNET content tagged:
Patricia Dunn, pretexting, board member, investigation, reporter
Shame on HP for trampling on the constitution, personal privacy and breaking the law.
They should be investigated by the SEC and someone should go to jail.
PS : Its no surprise that HP is a major contributor to the Republican cause (as per Rush Limbaugh)
http://www.rushlimbaughonline.com/articles/boycottcompanies.htm
It's an abuse of power and information that reads more salacious than a Danielle Steel novel. Former HP board member in a NY Times Interview had even said Dunn's spying was "probable unlawful conduct, improper board practices, breakdowns in corporate governance."
I'm not buying the "we had no idea because we hired a company who outsourced to contractors" excuse. Common sense dictates that this operation was fishy by definition and by instruction.
HP, of all companies, can't have a corporate officer (and chief legal counsel, for that matter) who condone spying on other board memebers and private citizens. It's an afront to the "secure" IT services HP is in the business of selling to others.
She should resign.
-Mister Winky
if she had any ethical values...she should offer her resignation...
shocked about the methods employed. This whole thing smells of
one big Cat Fight where personalities versus common sense
prevailed. I can't wait to see how Hurd handles this ... Hopefully,
it's an opportunity for management to reclaim control from the
board over the company. This board has run amuck.
I feel bad for the employees of HP and their new super-star CEO, Mark Hurd, who have been working so hard to rekindle the success of HP.
This board has always been volatile with arguments with the Hewlett family members over the Compaq acquisition to the most current debacle. I think it just may need a clean sweep..so shareholders call for a vote!
Removal or resignation are the appropriate action for Dunn.
Might be time to cut bad ties with Dunn.
HP MUST sack her immediately and eat massive crow by issuing a press release with an effusive apology for "Profoundly Unacceptable Behavior by Former Chairwoman who has been Terminated" -- then state emphatically that it will cooperate fully with any any and all civil or criminal investigations.
I for one will touch no HP product unless and until I see some satisfaction.
The simple and clean solution is to remove her in disgrace and cooperate with any possible criminal investigations.
Sipping champagne on his 270 ft yatch as Dunn is baked in the
slow rotisserie of American investigative journalism. The sweet
taste of revenge.
Carly Fiorina was bad enough, and this is worse. I have 3 HP products in my house which are becoming hard to look at. Maybe I'll tape a Xerox label over them just for fun.
Shame on HP for trampling on the constitution, personal privacy and breaking the law.
They should be investigated by the SEC and someone should go to jail.
PS : Its no surprise that HP is a major contributor to the Republican cause (as per Rush Limbaugh)
http://www.rushlimbaughonline.com/articles/boycottcompanies.htm
It's a non-sequiter to accuse a private non-government entity of trampling on the constitution. If you read the thing you'll note that it says what says what government can and can't do, and never says a word about what private entitities can't do. Common mistake. Only the government can "trample on the constitution" -- people and companies are limited by laws, not by the constitution.
And since the 8th amendment appplies to the government and not to me, if anyone from HP tries to get sensitive information on me, I'll hunt them down and exercise cruel and unusual punishment on 'em.
down the toilet.
Look out Epson, I am going to be buying some printers....
Still, she has yet to explain the why, as to the filing the statement to the SEC omitting the basic facts as to Tom Perkins resignation in May, and restricting CEO's general statement to both the staff at HP and the press.
Further, has yet to explain when given ample opportunity, to correct the basic errors as well including the boardroom minutes to that fateful meeting !
Remember , that she of her own freewill and volition , chose to operate in that arbitrary manner as well!
Let the roasting continue unabated, as she deserves it , though she leaves so many unanswered questions?, at this point in time, as well!
Her options, now appear to be shrinking by the hour, as the scandal continues along it's merry way!
Oh well, time will tell all shortly!
The point is, what Ms Dunn has done is wrong, but also wrong is the 'leaker' and also that reporter who accepted the leak .... if this entire situation is to be treated with true ethics. Ofcourse it is debatable that, what is true ethics.
The most famous type of this would be "Watergate" and its leak "Deep Throat." Or the current "BALCO" grand jury investigation. There are countless reasons why an informant wants their name kept out of it; privacy and fear of retaliation for example.
surveilance methods that can't be used??
- Give me a break
- by brian.lee September 9, 2006 8:03 PM PDT
- This kind of thing happens all the time and it will keep
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- Partially right
- by VI Joker September 11, 2006 7:23 AM PDT
- There is nothing illegal about a "HR manager listening to employees gossip at the water cooler. Or your manager pretending to be your best buddy (getting you drunk at the bar) than selling you out down the road." Its unethical in general (depending on who you are it might not be personally), but not illegal. Obtaining someone's phone records without a court order is illegeal and unethical. What George Keyworth did was unethical, but not illegal. Should HP fire him? Maybe. It depends on what his worth is to the company seeing that he will not longer be on the board. Its true executives are paid lots of money to run a company, and should be able to keep strategies to themselves. However, they also should be able to obey the law as well.
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (40 Comments)happening regardless. The only difference is someone got
caught, it's no different than your HR manager listening to
employees gossip at the water cooler. Or your manager
pretending to be your best buddy (getting you drunk at the bar)
than selling you out down the road. I'm surprised that no one
noticed that the guy who leaked the information wasn't some
middle manager but someone at the top which goes to show you
that attempts to "buy" loyality just doesn't work anymore, I'm
mean it's not bad enough you pay these guys big bucks to run
the place heaven forbid you expect them to keep their mouths
shut and not ruin the game plan. Maybe they should add
punishable by death to the termination clause perhaps that'll
shut people up.