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The moves follow uproar in the Hewlett Packard boardroom after the revelation that Dunn had authorised the surveillance of board members and journalists which involved accessing personal information via a practice known as 'pretexting'.

The investigation was motivated by Dunn's frustration over an ongoing leak to the media. Although the leak contained no damaging content, Dunn was reported to have been furious and ordered the probe, hiring an external surveillance firm.

In May, Dunn unmasked the leaker as George Keyworth II and demanded his resignation but he refused. Another long standing board member Thomas Perkins angrily resigned when it emerged his phone records had been accessed. Perkins then called in his lawyers who discovered that the company, through its investigators, had used the arguably illegal means of pretexting to get hold of the phone records from AT&T.

On Monday the US

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Securities and Exchange Commission announced it was launching an investigation into the activities.

Announcing her resignation, Dunn said: 'The recent events that have taken place follow an important investigation that was required after the board sought to resolve the persistent disclosure of confidential information from within its ranks. Unfortunately, the investigation, which was conducted with third parties, included certain inappropriate techniques. These went beyond what we understood them to be, and I apologise that they were employed.'

Hurd also apologised to Perkins. 'On behalf of HP, I apologise to Tom Perkins for the intrusion into his privacy,' she said. 'I thank Tom for his contributions, his principles and his help in getting HP past this episode toward its rightful place as the envy of corporate America.'

Keyworth has also resigned in protest at his treatment as he believed his remarks to a journalist were made in the best interests of the company. He is a 21-year veteran of the company and has served on the HP board of directors since 1986. His resignation is effective immediately.

However, while the board 'recognised' that the interview with the journalist was undertaken in an attempt to further HP's interests, it does not believe that Dr. Keyworth's contact in January 2006 was 'vetted through appropriate channels'.

Following his resignation Keyworth said in statement 'The invasion of my privacy and that of others was ill-conceived and inconsistent with HP's values.'