The HP pretexting scandal has come to a partial close, with HP signing an agreement to pay $14.5M to the California Attorney General to resolve civil claims. In a statement on Hewlett-Packard's website, the company says that this agreement resolves the civil claims arising from the investigation of information leaks from its board of directors. Most of the money will be used to "create a Privacy and Piracy Fund to assist California state prosecutors in investigating and prosecuting consumer privacy and information piracy violations." The press release also shows actions that HP has taken, such as hiring a new ethics and compliance officer and filling several other related roles, to ensure the scandal isn't repeated. Computer giant Hewlett-Packard became the center of a major scandal when it was revealed that it used "pretexting" spy techniques to investigate information leaks on its board of directors. The company's CEO apologized for the incident, and the company's chairman Patricia Dunn stepped down once the scandal came to light. (c) securityfocus.com
