My previous post spoke of Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) and the questionable tacits used in the investigation into internal leaks to the media that has left Chairwoman Dunn with the possibility of being asked to resign her position.
The illegal practice brought into the limelight is pretexting, using a pretext to pose as a person in order to get at that person's personal information, in HP's example, private phone records. Pretexting can also get other personal and financial information and is commonly used by private investigators and data brokers.
According to this NYTimes article, pretexters often use techniques similar to those employed by identity thieves to obtain not only telephone records but also other private data. Robert Douglas, an information security consultant and former private detective, said they often called telephone companies armed with some personal information, like a customer’s Social Security number, mailing address or date of birth. Then they charm and cajole the phone company employee into thinking they are the actual customer.
Many professionals pretexters, including those who have used the practice to build lucrative data brokering businesses, are reluctant to discuss their methods. At a Congressional hearing in June, 11 of the witnesses who were called refused to answer questions, invoking their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
One witness asked for the full name and address of a reporter to demonstrate how quickly he was able to, in a matter of seconds, obtain his Social Security number.
Know More about business ethics at CoreCharacter.com.
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