HP braces for ‘pretexting’ hearing after board chair resigns News
HP braces for ‘pretexting’ hearing after board chair resigns

[JURIST] Already braced for a Congressional hearing Monday on its admitted use of 'pretexting' [SEC filing], technology giant Hewlett Packard Co. [corporate website] announced Friday that Board Chairman Patricia Dunn will resign immediately [HP press release], rather than in January as previously scheduled [HP press release], and that CEO Mark Hurd will take her place [HP press release]. HP also announced that former US prosecutor Bart M. Schwartz [firm profile] will audit and recommend appropriate changes to HP's Standards of Business Conduct [PDF text], the ethical guidelines of the company.

The Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee [official website] has hearings scheduled for September 28 [materials] on "Hewlett Packard's Pretexting Scandal," for which the Subcommittee has requested the testimony of several key HP officers, including HP global security manager Anthony Gentilucci, senior counsel Kevin Hunsaker, and computer security investigator Fred Adler, as well as private investigator Joe Depante [Subcommittee letters]. Earlier in September, the Subcommittee requested documents from HP [letter], and requested the testimony of Dunn and General Counsel Ann O. Baskins [JURIST report], to be delivered during the September 28 hearing. 'Pretexting' is a fradulent investigative technique that involves an investigator posing as someone else to gain access to confidential or personal information. It appears to have been used during an internal investigation aimed at uncovering the source of leaked information which came from the HP board of directors. AP has more.

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