Breach of Security

The SIIA has reportedly informed Foundstone executives that it intends to pursue copyright-infringement charges for the company's alleged widespread use of unlicensed software.

Foundstone, however, vehemently denies the charges. In a statement from Foundstone CEO George Kurtz on the company's Web site, he says an independent third-party audit performed by VLSystems concluded that more than 95 percent of the software running on Foundstone's systems was properly licensed. "For a company whose foundations are built on protecting intellectual property, anything less than complete compliance is not acceptable," Kurtz says.

From there, the issue gets juicy. Kurtz goes on to say that the "sources and recent timing of these defamatory statements%85is not a coincidence" and claims a legal dispute with another company, NT Objectives, is to blame for the accusations. Foundstone filed a lawsuit last year against the competing security company for misappropriation of trade secrets, claiming an NT Objectives product is a knock-off of Foundstone's FoundScan software. The basis of the complaint? NT Objectives CEO J.D. Glaser is a former Foundstone employee.

NT Objectives denies the allegations, and a hearing has been scheduled for later this year. Clearly, someone has some explaining to do.