15 January 2002 A former employee of Peregrine Systems – which specialises in employee relationship management software – has been arrested for allegedly leaking confidential financial information.

Mark Rosenbaum, an ex-network administrator made redundant in October 2001 from the San Diego, California-based software developer, was arrested by the district attorney’s Computer and Technology Crime High Tech Response Team. He was charged with unauthorised access to a computer system and “false personation” as well as possession of a firearm.

Six hours before Peregrine issued a press release on 2 January this year stating it would not hit financial targets for its fiscal third quarter, someone using the name “paragreen69” gave advance word of the shortfall in a message on Yahoo Finance’s message boards.

The district attorney alleges that Rosenbaum posted the message as well as another on 8 January from his home using the Internet accounts of other Peregrine Systems employees. Rosenbaum may face additional charges and if found guilty, he faces up to three years and eight months in prison.

Peregrine Systems has grown quickly in recent years through acquisition and now boasts three major product lines: infrastructure management, employee relationship management and business relationship management software.