Although this is a resurrected 2006 case, the recent update on the Hewlett-Packard spy scandal received much attention.
Besides learning a new word – ‘Pretexters’, which means people who are involved in the illegal practice of ‘pretexting’; obtaining personal information under impersonation or false pretense; there was a general sense of loathing at what some super high-positioned executives think they can do and get away with.
While the attention is on the DePante father-and-son spy pair and the count’s judgement-punishment results, many couldn’t help but link the HP former chairman Patricia Dunn’s actions to the infamous News of the World’s phone hacking scandal.
What’s wrong with these highly-polished, tailored-suited, stratosphere-level IT executives? What makes them think that they can invade another’s privacy for whatever reason?
Perhaps it is the lack of oxygen at stratosphere-level.
Even between the two comparisons, News of the World still gets some understanding on acting at that scum level by virtue of being a newspaper that thrives on gossip and scandals, the every-trivial-bit-of-dirt-makes-a-story mentality.
And how else can you authenticate bits of such news except via the very innovative, though not legal way, of hacking the mobile phones of politicians, celebrities and Prince William himself?
But this is HP. Hewlett-Packard. One of the largest IT companies on the Planet.
As a hugely successful, hardware company that evangelises technology and surely also preaching about IT security, protection, privacy…what was Patricia thinking?
Tsk tsk tsk.
It doesn’t matter if your company’s secrets are being leaked out every single day. The onus is yours and ever more burdensome on you if you head a company that implements the very same technology, IT security technologies and administrative policies that is preached all day, all year long to customers on the responsible need to protect proprietary data and information.
Of course Pat vehemently sticks to her story of not being aware that the phone call records and data of the said HP employees, journalists and even board members, were obtained in an illegal manner.
At least HP’s ex-CEO Mark Hurd came out to the open and apologised to the journalists and HP staff and families affected, admitting that an abuse of privacy happened during the practice of ‘pretexting’.
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IT BYTES BACK! says: Anyone with the balls to take up the leadership of a large company, should know that they have already relegated their right to claim ignorance to anything. It becomes their business to be in the loop.
