Red-faced SAP admits hacking Oracle

THE GERMAN COMPANY which makes business software which no one can explain what it does, SAP has admitted spying on the storage outfit Oracle.

SAP has admitted that one of units, TomorrowNow, made "inappropriate downloads" of Oracle computer code for fixes and support documents.

Oracle is suing SAP claiming it had stolen its intellectual property and accused the German outfit of "corporate theft on a grand scale".

Oracle says SAP obtained secret product information so it could reel in new customers.

The main thrust of the allegation is that SAP broke into its computers in January to nick a software update tacking this year's change to an earlier start for Daylight Savings Time.

The SAP outfit TomorrowNow, posted identical software based on the information it nicked, Oracle claims. To make matters more obvious SAP version had the same bugs that Oracle later fixed, according to the complaint.

However SAP claims it never had access to Oracle intellectual property although it does admit that its hacking antics were unacceptable.

SAP Chief Executive Henning Kagermann said all the stuff that was nicked remained in SAP and was not shared with customers or anyone.

SAP has been asked by the US Justice Department to provide documents related to the filing, the company said.

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