HP's Hurd hires NCR's Hoak as ethics honcho

A MAN WHO used to work for CEO Mark Hurd at NCR has been given the job of chief ethics and compliance officer at HP.

Jon Hoak, former top lawyer at NCR, replaces HP ethics official Kevin Hunsaker who got his marching orders and who faces criminal charges for a botched investigation into boardroom leaks.

Hurd so far has escaped the fallout from a scandal that saw chairman of the board Patricia Dunn and top lawyer Ann Baskins ousted from HP.

This week we've seen CEOs from McAfee, Cnet and other firms resign from their jobs over stock option probes because the scandals happened "under their watch".

While the HP scandal happened under Hurd's watch, so far he's resembled a skid-free surface. That's while the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune have hit HP's reputation for unimpeachable integrity rather hard. µ