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HP Spying More Elaborate Than Reported

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the an-inventer's-garage-meets-keystone-kops dept.

theodp writes "The NY Times reports the secret investigation of news leaks at HP was more elaborate than previously reported. In addition to illicitly gathering private phone records almost from the start, detectives reportedly followed and videotaped some directors and journalists, were given photos of reporters to help identify them, and tried to plant surveillance software on a CNET reporter's computer. HP also fessed up to spying on its own spokesman, whose personal phone records were taken."

10 of 131 comments (clear)

  1. Will anyone care? by TopShelf · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The interesting question is, will anyone care enough about this to stop doing business with HP? Will any major corporate clients reject these practices and refuse to deal with a company that engages in them?

    I'm guessing not.

    There will be a few people punished in a very public fashion, while behind the scenes this sort of behavior becomes commonplace.

    Maybe it's just Monday Morning talking here, but I hope I'm wrong.

    --
    Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
    1. Re:Will anyone care? by lucabrasi999 · · Score: 4, Interesting
      With all that invested in a product, (not just the product but the support infrastructure), it would take years to change over to new hardware.

      I am working on this type of migration right now. We are moving all applications to one vendor's hardware platform (and virtualizing it all). Our timeline on this project is 3 years. We could complete the task much more quickly, but we are being hamstrung by customer internal processes.

    2. Re:Will anyone care? by _damnit_ · · Score: 4, Interesting

      If what you said were true, I'd be inclined to agree. The people involved have NOT been punished. The Chairwoman will keep her position until January at which point she will step down but KEEP HER DIRECTOR SEAT. The CEO Mr. Hurd, a director as well, was an informed and complicit participant in the decision as much as the Chairwoman. HE WILL BECOME CHAIRMAN. Another director resigned in protest of the investigation. His symbolic resignation intended to be an embarassing slight to the board and force them to reconsider their illegal actions was covered up and not reported to the SEC as required by law.

      So, the roundup on punishments:
      Chairwoman moves down one slot, keeps money, perks and most of her power.
      CEO moves up to chairman
      Director (read: good guy) who resigned out of sense of duty: still gone from boardroom
      Number of directors on the board, reduced

      What should happen? I'm not sure as I don't have all the facts and I don't claim to be a lawyer. As a layman, I would expect Chairwoman Dunn to lose her seat on the board and forfeit any unvested compensation. I would hope Mr Hurd would lose his position on the board as well. The board should bring back the resigned member. The fellow who was leaking info should be removed from the board and lose compensation same as Ms Dunn. HP and other companies need strong boards. HP once had a reputation for good governance. Let's hope that returns.

      BTW - I don't work for HP or really care too much about them. No emotions or money invested.

      --


      _damnit_

      It's my job to freeze you. -- Logan's Run
    3. Re:Will anyone care? by theCat · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I'm not concerned that anyone will or won't buy HP products and services as a result of them hiring spies. I'm REALLY worried that every company listed in the Fortune 500 is going to see this little episode pipe itself to /dev/null and realize that while the minor PR disadvantages of getting caught in domestic spying are certainly real, these in no way outweigh the insanely STUPENDOUS advantages to be had from hiring spys in the first place. After all, these are companies that think nothing of violating securities law, violating environmental regulations, using sweatshop labor, and cheating on their taxes. What does it matter if they toss in domestic spying if that can be shown to boost profits?

      I'll go a step further, and project that investors will eventually EXPECT a company to have a vigorous spy program in place to protect their investment, and will pressure Boards to adopt the practice.

      Yeah, that whole thing sounds nuts, but it follows as a projection from current practices. What the hell kinda world are we living in?

      --
      =^..^= all your rodent are belong to us
  2. Common by TheAmazingJambi · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It occurs to me that this is probably a fairly common practice among companies of a certain size, to get a better handle on the sort of press they're getting. HP's just the one unlucky enough to have gotten caught this time.

  3. How bad does it need to be? by carpeweb · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Before this "even worse news" about the extent of the spying, HP's board should have forced Dunn to resign immediately from the board. Instead, they allowed her to continue as chairwoman until January and to continue as a director after that. I predict that the board will now force her immediate resignation, but will they also strip her of her directorship? What about severance? They should take it all, retroactively. IANAL, but I'll bet that's legal, somehow.

  4. When will people admit it's fascism? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I am from Italy. My parents were young adults during the brief time Mussolini was in power. While many Italians dislike discussing that time period, my parents were always willing to inform people of it, in the hopes that similar situations may be avoided in the future.

    This is the sort of activity that became widespread during that period. Spying was omnipresent, be it on the street, at work, or while at restaurants. Collaboration between the elites of the business world the government allowed for this sort of privacy invasion to take hold, and further promoted it as time went on. Individual freedoms were thrown out "for the sake of the nation".

    The very same appears to be happening in America and other "democratic" countries these days. On one hand, you have the government spying domestically on its own citizens (the whole NSA scandal, for instance). Security cameras are being installed all over the place, from street corners to ATMs. In some countries, the cameras apparently will have loudspeakers to direct the citizenry that are being observed. Now we find that the very same sort of actions are being taken by corporate executives. Soon enough that will translate down to regular workers. In short, it's a case of fascism much like Italy experienced in the mid-20th century.

  5. Would you work for a company that does this? by chiph · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Like the subject line says.

  6. A hidden gem indeed! by iendedi · · Score: 2, Interesting
    According to TFA: "People briefed on HP's review of its internal investigation say that it was authorized by Dunn, the chairwoman, and put under the supervision of Kevin Hunsaker, a senior counsel who is the company's director of ethics."
    Imagine how much worse it would have been to put the program under a senior counsel who was not an expert in ethics!
    --

    It is your personal duty to fight for what is right on a daily basis. Ignoring injustice is identical to approving
  7. NY Times Article Link by sweetnjguy29 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/18/technology/18hp. html?ei=5094&en=0af37191eea65e08&hp=&ex=1158638400 &partner=homepage&pagewanted=print

    I'm still new enough here to hate when the /. story says "a NY Times Article" but doesn't reference or link to the article. I wonder if thats supposed to be so that karma whores like me can post a link to the actual story?

    Oh, and enjoy the link to the print version of the article without ads :-) And try http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/18/technology/18hp. html?hp&ex=1158638400&en=0af37191eea65e08&ei=5094& partner=homepage if ya wanna see the scarey pictures of the HP execs.