H.P. Is Said to Have Studied Spying on Newsrooms

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/20/technology/20hewlett.html?ex=1159416000&en=ae9eb001f13a9da2&ei=5043&partner=EXCITE

By DAMON DARLIN and KURT EICHENWALD
Published: September 20, 2006

Hewlett-Packard conducted feasibility studies on planting spies in news bureaus of two major publications as part of an investigation of leaks from its board, an individual briefed on the company’s review of the operation said yesterday.

The studies, referred to in a Feb. 2 draft report for a briefing of senior management, are said to have included the possibility of placing investigators acting as clerical employees or cleaning crews in the San Francisco offices of CNET and The Wall Street Journal.

It is not clear whether the plan described in the documents, which were read to a reporter, was ever acted upon.

The report was sent on Feb. 1 by Anthony R. Gentilucci, Hewlett-Packard’s Boston-based manager of global investigations, to four others, including Kevin T. Hunsaker, a senior counsel in Hewlett-Packard’s legal department and the company’s chief ethics officer.

FULL story at link above.

[sarcasmo]

1. If they paid for a study I am sure it has happened. Kick and Nom

Corporate Amerika hates freedom, say it with me class. Corporate Amerika hates freedom. One more time like the head on commercial. Corporate Amerika hates freedom.

[niallmac]

2. Is Gordon Liddy an HP consultant? n/t

[leveymg]

3. Can there be any doubt that NSA/CIA contractors do the same thing?

Corporate spying? In America? I'm Shocked . . . shocked, I say.

[hippiechick]

4. Jeez, it's starting to feel like the 50's/60's ...

... here a spy, there a spy, everywhere a spy-spy ... :scared:

[seafan]

5. Wonder if we are getting close to Choice Point in all of this mess...

That thought struck me yesterday when I read this story in the Washington Post.

Now, the Hewlett-Packard story shares a connection to a Florida contractor (Action Resource Group) which was also obtaining these phone records on the direction of Mr. Ronald R. DeLia, the owner of Security Outsourcing Solutions, the firm that was pretexting for HP.



September 19, 2006:

HP Scandal Shines Light on a Simple, Treacherous Act

snip

Yuzuk's case was featured at a congressional hearing in June, part of lawmakers' effort to curb pretexting -- the act of impersonating someone to obtain their personal records. The drive has gained fresh momentum with recent revelations that a firm hired by a Hewlett-Packard Co. subcontractor used the technique to obtain phone records of the firm's directors and journalists. A House subcommittee is probing HP's practices.

Federal legislation is pending that would criminalize the use of pretexting to obtain phone records. Some states have passed laws banning it, and states, phone companies and the Federal Trade Commission are suing data brokers who practice it. Despite such efforts, including a 1999 law banning pretexting to obtain financial records, the industry continues to thrive. It is driven by systemic weaknesses in retail, financial and other sectors; lax company security standards; and demand from lawyers, debt collectors, and even law enforcement and tabloid journalists, experts said.

snip

And today, September 20, 2006:

H.P. Is Said to Have Studied Spying on Newsrooms

snip

The consideration of undercover agents inside news organizations adds a new element to what is known of the Hewlett-Packard investigation, which prominently included the use of subterfuge to gain the phone records of company directors, employees, journalists and others.

snip

In addition to Hewlett-Packard directors, nine journalists and two employees, those whose phone records were obtained included Larry W. Sonsini, the outside counsel, a spokeswoman for his law firm, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, said yesterday, confirming a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The identification of a man from the Omaha area as a possible participant in the operation provides a potentially critical link in the investigative chain. The man, Brian Wagoner, has spent several years working for the Action Research Group, a Florida detective agency, according to a relative of Mr. Wagoner.

The Florida agency has been identified by people briefed on Hewlett-Packard’s review of its operation as a contractor for Security Outsourcing Solutions, Mr. DeLia’s firm.

An e-mail message to Mr. Hunsaker, the Hewlett-Packard ethics officer, indicates that he was aware of the involvement of the Action Research Group in the operation. On Feb. 7, Mr. DeLia informed Mr. Hunsaker that he had sent an e-mail message to “my source in FL and asked him if there were any state laws prohibiting pretexting telephone companies for call records.”

Mr. DeLia gave the response from that firm, presumably Action Research: “We are comfortable there are no Federal laws prohibiting the practice.” He added that he had been using the firm for 8 to 10 years.

snip