Company blames ex-employee for data leak

Honeywell says a former employee has disclosed sensitive information relating to 19,000 of the company's U.S. employees.

Honeywell discovered the information being published on the Web on Jan. 20 and immediately had the Web site in question pulled down, said company spokesman Robert Ferris.

In court filings dated Jan. 30, the company accused former employee Howard Nugent, of Arizona, of accessing the information on a Honeywell computer and then causing "the transmission of that information."

Nugent has since been ordered not to disclose any information about Honeywell, including "information about Honeywell's employees (payroll data, social security numbers, personal information, etc.)," according to a Jan. 31 order signed by Judge Neil Wake of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona.

The precise method Nugent is alleged to have used to gain access to the information, and why he may have disclosed it, is not clear.

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