For more info on a specific newsletter, click the title. Details will be displayed in a new window.
Subscribe to
Computerworld 40 years of the most authoritative source of news and information for IT leaders.
Ptech workers tell the story behind the search
or
Other Security Stories
|
|
|
|
January 17, 2003 (Computerworld) -- It started with an e-mail tip from a former employee. It ended with Ptech Inc.'s reputation in tatters.
The former employee, who had once managed government sales operations for the company, had seen a CNN story about possible links between Saudi businessmen and terrorist financing. Aware that a Saudi businessman, Yassin al-Qadi, had once invested in Ptech, the employee tipped off the FBI.
Thus, on the night of Dec. 5, 2002, FBI agents showed up at Ptech in Quincy, Mass., and asked CEO Oussama Ziade for permission to look into his company's financial dealings with al-Qadi.
Al-Qadi, a wealthy Saudi businessman who, like many others in his country, had investments in various high-tech companies in the U.S., had been one of Ptech's start-up "angel" investors in 1994. At no time, however, was he a Ptech investor of record.
Ziade told Computerworld in an interview that he was happy to assist the FBI. In return, the Bureau and the U.S. Customs Service pledged to be careful not to let word of their visit leak to the media. They parked their cars away from Ptech's building so as not to raise suspicions, and Ziade escorted them in one by one through a back door.
"The night of the search, we met with the federal authorities for a few hours in our lawyer's office, where we were told that neither Ptech nor its employees or officers are the target of the investigation," said Ziade.
Ziade explained his relationship with al-Qadi. "I don't know him well," Ziade said. "I met him a few times and talked to him a few times on the telephone. He never talked to me about violence. Instead, he talked very highly of his relationship with [former President] Jimmy Carter and [Vice President] Dick Cheney."
Ziade said he then told investigators that al-Qadi had been a member of the board of directors of another company that had invested in Ptech when it was first starting in 1994. Ptech's first investment had come from venture capitalists in New Jersey, he said.
Ziade, who came to the U.S. in 1985 from Lebanon and had contacts throughout the Middle East, made his first trip to Saudi Arabia in 1995 seeking additional funding for his young company. He had been told there was venture capital to be had there, so that's where he went.
It was then that he met with al-Qadi and one of the largest investment bankers in Saudi Arabia. To his surprise, half a dozen other U.S. software and technology companies were there also looking for money.
"When I was there, I attended a fundraiser for five different American companies," Ziade said. "There were investors there with common investments in dozens of U.S. companies." The companies, he said, are household names in the U.S. high-tech industry, though he declined to name them.
Ziade was unsuccessful in persuading al-Qadi to invest more money in Ptech. And when he approached the Saudi businessman a year later, he was told to look for investors in the U.S.
|
Print this Story |
|
Send Us Feedback |
|
E-mail this Story |
|
Digg this Story |
|
Slashdot this Story |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
All Zones Application Performance Zone Business Continuity Zone Data Center Management Zone Enterprise-Class Security Zone The File Data Management Zone Grid Computing on Windows Zone Security Management Zone ITIL Best Practices Zone The SAS Zone Storage Virtualization Zone Business Intelligence and Analytics Zone |
 See your link here
|
 |
||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
| ||||||||
|
Why SaaS is Vital to Email and Web Security
Download this Executive Bulletin (a $49.95 value) for free, compliments of MessageLabs.
Get this white paper now!
Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services.
- DNS hole prompts synchronized patching effort by IT vendors
- Microsoft plugs nine holes in Windows, DNS, SQL
- Symantec warns of new Word attack
- More top stories
Security Management ZoneSecurity management is the process of developing a comprehensive data protection plan. It takes into account all potential threats, the existing network environment, the future needs of the organization, and lays out a multi-tiered blueprint to integrate the security technology needed to combat these threats. CDW can help keep your network and data secure. Visit the CDW Security Management Zone now See All Zones
|
 Fired up about IT? Join Sharkbait and share your true tales of IT. SharkBait is the place for you to sound off about everything IT – the good, the bad, and the rest of the weird stuff you deal with every day.New baits 
|
"Security Directions" virtual trade show2008's Code-Red Security Issues for Protecting the EnterpriseWebcasts, white papers, demos, and more. Presented in a unique 3-d environment. Enter our show right now! Click here to enter
|
 In SecurityStripping away the trappings of applications, systems and networks, information is the core asset of most organizations. Our columnist describes how asserting the importance of information governance is crucial to making that asset tangible, addressable and protected. Click here to read the latest column by Jon Espenschied |
CIO
Computerworld
CSO
DEMO
GamePro
Games.net
IDG Connect
IDG World Expo
Infoworld
The Industry Standard
ITworld
JavaWorld
LinuxWorld
MacUser
Macworld
Network World
PC World
Playlist
Copyright © 2008 Computerworld Inc. All
rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium
without express written permission of Computerworld Inc. is prohibited.
Computerworld and Computerworld.com and the respective logos are
trademarks of International Data Group Inc.
|
