HP chief comes clean over spying incident

HP chief Mark Hurd has admitted that he failed properly to monitor the investigation

The spying case in which HP investigators obtained confidential information from journalists, board members and employees was the result of a lack of corporate oversight and lack of proper reporting on the techniques used by investigators.

HP chief executive Mark Hurd admitted in a press conference at the company's corporate headquarters that he failed properly to monitor the investigation.

Hurd said that he received a copy of the report which disclosed that 'pretexting' techniques had been used, but said that he did not read it.

"I understand that there was also a written report into the investigation addressed at me as well as others, but I did not read it. I could have and I should have," he said.

"Some of the findings that [law firm] Morgan Lewis have uncovered are very disturbing to me. On behalf of HP I extend my sincere apologies to those journalists who were investigated and to everyone who was impacted."

The vendor said earlier this month that it had used 'pretexting' techniques to trace the source of a confidential information leak from its board of directors to members of the media.

Private investigators hired by the company obtained phone records for reporters and board members by posing as the account holder or relatives.

"The intent of the investigation was absolutely proper and appropriate. The fact that we had leaks on the board had to be resolved. But the inappropriate techniques that were applied do not reflect the values of HP," said Hurd.

• Photos from the press conference are available on the Silicon Valley Sleuth blog.

As a result of the incident, HP chairman Patricia Dunn, who ordered the investigation, will step down as of today. She was previously scheduled to resign in January. Hurd will take over as chairman.

HP said that there had been two separate investigations to uncover the source of the boardroom leak. A first investigation called 'Kona 1' was concluded in July 2005 and did not yield any results.

A new media leak prompted 'Kona 2' in January 2006. It involved physical surveillance of board members, HP employees and reporters.

Investigators also obtained social security numbers of journalists, board members and employees and used pretexting techniques to obtain phone records.

The company also prepared a so-called tracer email that would trace to whom it was forwarded.

Hurd was notified of the content of the email, but was not informed of the fact that it would contain the tracer technology. There is also no proof that the tracer part of the message was actually deployed, HP said.

HP would not disclose which journalists were targetted by the investigation. It has been widely reported that the investigation probed journalists from CNET and the Wall Street Journal, among others.

The case has sparked investigations by the SEC, the US House of Representatives and California Attorney General Bill Lockyear.

Hurd has agreed to testify before a US House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing on Thursday 28 September.

• Photos from the press conference are available on the Silicon Valley Sleuth blog.