HP Patricia Dunn Stepping Down - Company Plagued by Scandal

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HP said Patricia Dunn will step down as chairwoman in January amid a widening scandal involving a possibly illegal probe into media leaks. She will be succeeded by CEO Mark Hurd.

Mr. Hurd will retain his existing positions as chief executive and president and Ms. Dunn will remain as a director.

Ms. Dunn apologized for the techniques used in the company's probe, which included “pretexting” in which private investigators impersonated board members and journalists to acquire their phone records.

The pressure on Ms. Dunn to step down began rising sharply on Monday when Congress and federal investigators entered the fray surrounding HP's possibly illegal probe of media leaks. The FBI, the U.S. Attorney for Northern California and the House Energy and Commerce Committee all joined the probe of the scandal swirling around HP's Board of Directors.

Ms. Dunn was angry about the media leaks and commissioned an unnamed outside firm to identify their source. They used Social Security numbers and other personal information to get phone companies to turn over detailed logs of home phone calls of reporters and board members.

Although frequently used by private investigators, pretexting tests the bounds of state and federal law.

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