15 Biggest technology scandals of 2009

[seema]

Leading US technology firm IBM found itself entangled in the largest-ever hedge fund insider-trading scheme involving Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam.

Robert Moffat, senior vice president and head of IBM's systems and technology group was named as a defendant. Executives at leading chipmaker Intel Corp and management consulting firm McKinsey & Co were also implicated.

The charges, stemming from wiretaps, included accusations that Moffat passed on to hedge fund New Castle Group insider information on Advanced Micro Devices Inc, obtained through IBM's business negotiations with the company.

He is also accused of passing on information on IBM itself ahead of the company's quarterly results, as well as those of Sun Microsystems while IBM was looking at its books for a possible acquisition. The FBI said Moffat was one of the IBM executives conducting due diligence on Sun.

Rajaratnam is also accused of conspiring with Rajiv Goel, director of strategic investment at Intel's investment arm, and Anil Kumar, a director of powerful management consulting firm McKinsey & Co.

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In Octobe, Microsoft said that passwords belonging to some users of its Hotmail email service were exposed on an Internet site. The company did not say how many users were affected, but some reports suggested that passwords of more than 10,000 accounts were exposed.

A Microsoft spokesman said, "We are aware that some Windows Live Hotmail customers' credentials were acquired illegally by a phishing scheme and exposed on a website." The software company said the exposure of the passwords was not a breach of any Microsoft servers.

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IBM sued its former mergers-and-acquisitions chief David Johnson to prevent him from working for Dell Inc, saying his new job violates an agreement restricting his employment with rivals.

Edward Barbini, an IBM spokesman said, "Johnson has possession of valuable confidential information and cannot undertake a senior strategy position at Dell without violating his obligations to IBM.” “Mr Johnson repeatedly received significant compensation in exchange for agreeing to non-compete provisions.”

Johnson, a 27-year IBM veteran, spent the past nine years in an “active role” overseeing mergers and acquisitions and reviewing other strategic deals, according to the lawsuit filed on May 21. Dell, the world’s second-largest market of personal computers, said it has offered Johnson a position but declined to say what his role or title would be.

[seema]

If Satyam scam was a shocker, this was a bigger. Seems Satyam founder B Ramalinga Raju didn't see much in his admission of over Rs 7000-crore scam. For, Raju and his family were back to claim their stake in the company. Raju and his family attempted to bid for the beleaguered IT firm, even as one of the pre-conditions for bidding was a good corporate governance track record.

The revelation that the erstwhile promoter of Satyam featured in the initial list of 141 suitors is reported to have been made by TN Manoharan, a government-nominated member on the Satyam board and former chairman of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).

Bidders who expressed an interest in Satyam were only privy to the takeover norms stipulated by the board such as a three-year-lock-in for a strategic investor and a ban on asset stripping for two years, among other things. They were, however, not given any access to the ‘virtual data room’ including the financial position as well as assets and liabilities of Satyam, once ranked the fourth-largest software exporter of the country.

The marque list of bidders included engineering firm L&T, billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, IT services firm Tech Mahindra, BK Modi-promoted Spice Group and IT services firm Cognizant Technologies.

[seema]

Software major Wipro warned prospective job seekers against falling prey to bogus emails that offered interview calls from the company.

Wipro vice president, Talent Acquisition, Pradeep Bahirwani said that the company had come across such fradulent letters earlier too "but this time we have come across e-mails that carry the company logo and its letterhead."

The letters signed by one Narayan Murli ask aspirants to deposit a "refundable" security deposit of Rs 4,670 in a particular account number as payment towards the interview and promised attractive salaries in the range of Rs 15,000 to Rs 65,000 a month, he said.

The e-mails were sent to job aspirants registered in different job portals informing that they had been shortlisted for interviews for various vacancies. These letters, he said, were replete with spelling mistakes and erroneous language and originated from some public domain and not from the company's domain.

The letters stated scheduled the interview at the company's Noida office. However, Wipro has no office in Noida.