HP board members sanctioned 'tracer email'

Posted on 5 Oct 2006 at 10:21

Released documents reveal how executives of Hewlett Packard agreed to a plan to unmask a board level mole by leaking information to a journalist. The plan, apparently suggested by a former journalist, was to gain the trust of CNet writer Dawn Kawamoto in the hope that she would lead them to the source of confidential company information.

Some of the information presented by the Committee sounds more like a bad script from Mission Impossible rather than the business of a major corporation. 'The package has been launched,' wrote Ron DeLia, the manager of Security Outsourcing Solution hired to trace the source of the leak. 'One surveillance team will be operational 2:30 PST,'

The plan was to gain Kawamoto's confidence by leaking confidential product information to her via email with 'tracer' spyware on board two days before an official announcement'. If Kawamoto forwarded the email to anyone, their identity would be passed back to the HP private investigators. 'Information obtained two days prior to its release has more of an "insider feel",' DeLia explained.

The company's Public Relations Chief Bob Sherbin was recruited to send out the email. However, Sherbin now claims he did not know about the tracer technology used and was under orders from 'senior management' to co-operate with the investigators.

The plan failed because either the tracer failed to work or Kawamoto did not open the attachment.

The company is also under investigation over an alleged pretexting operation where investigators impersonated their subjects in order to gain access to confidential phone records.

The sting operation and the possibly illegal attempt to gain access of the phone records have already cost the jobs of several senior executives at Hewlett Packard including those of the Chairman Patricia Dunn and the Chief Counsel Ann Baskins. Both are said to have given their consent to the activities of the investigation. CEO Mark Hurd has said that while he was sent email regarding the operation, he omitted to read it.

Author: Steve Malone