What is pretexting that has caused trouble at Hewart Packard company?
Answer:
Ultimately, "pretexting" is short for "Using a false pretext to obtain information
you are not entitled to."
In this case, since the board members of HP are all stockholders, HP had
all of their social security numbers.
By calling the phone companies and claiming to be the board members
in question, and using their social security numbers as proof, the private
investigators working for HP's CEO were able to obtain phone records
for the board members in question, presumably to determine whether or
not they were talking to the reporters in this case. The CEO was trying
to determine the source of the leak.
"Pretexting" is basically stealing by fraud - stealing information, not money.
It is referred to by the computer hacking community as "social engineering"
and is the predominant method of breaking into somebody's machine -
you call them up and claim that you are "maintenance" and ask for their
password.
I still don't understand why the phone companies are allowed to even
have your social security number - never let using it as essentially a password,
but never-the-less, by having the social security number and name, the
private investigator accessed information that he was not legally entitled
to.
Pretending to be someone you aren't or affiliated with someone you aren't in order to get information.
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