5 Companies That Had A Rough Week

The Week Ending April 11

This week's roundup of companies that had a rough week includes the departure of another channel executive from Juniper, a major fine paid by Hewlett-Packard in a bribery case, the discovery of the Heartbleed Bug in Cisco and Juniper Networks products, criticism for the Obama Administration over its plans to end ICANN oversight and bad news for Facebook on the teen popularity front.

Partner Marketing Exec Leaving Juniper Networks

Luanne Tierney, head of global partner marketing at Juniper Networks, is leaving the company amid a wider string of cutbacks to the company's marketing organization, CRN learned this week. The company plans to formally announce her departure next week. Tierney will be putting high-tech on hold to pursue her passion: writing a book.

Last year, Juniper Networks was hit with an executive exodus that included many of the company's channel managers. The company disclosed its plans to cut back on marketing resources and funds as part of a broader cost-cutting effort in a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Heartbleed Bug Found In Cisco And Juniper Equipment

While the Heartbleed Bug was causing heartburn for a lot of businesses this week, Cisco Systems and Juniper Networks had it particularly bad. The two manufacturers disclosed Thursday that some of their routers, switches and other products contain the security flaw that could allow an attacker to access vulnerable systems.

Cisco, for example, issued a bulletin Thursday confirming that 16 of its products are vulnerable and another 65 are being investigated. Industry analysts said correcting the flaws could take time.

Obama Administration Criticized For ICANN Plans

The Obama Administration came under fire this week for its plans to end U.S. government oversight of ICANN, the body that manages Internet domain names and addresses. Congressional Republicans took the Commerce Department to task for the plan saying it could lead to censorship by giving the United Nations or even repressive governments more control over the Internet.

Last month, the Commerce Department said it plans to hand oversight of ICANN to a governing body made up of businesses, nonprofit groups and engineers.

HP Pays $108 Million To Settle Bribery Charges

The U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission this week said Hewlett-Packard agreed to pay more than $108 million to settle charges the company's subsidiaries in Russia, Poland and Mexico made "improper payments to government officials to obtain or retain lucrative public contracts." Such payments violate the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

HP, in a statement, emphasized that it had cooperated with the investigation and said that in addition to the fines, the company would assume "certain compliance, reporting and cooperation obligations." The company said the misconduct outlined in the charges "was limited to a small number of people who are no longer employed by the company."

Facebook No Longer Tops With Teens

Instagram is the favorite social network for a plurality of teens in the U.S. while Facebook was ranked third, according to Piper Jaffray's "Taking Stock With Teens" research report. Thirty percent of those surveyed ranked Instagram No. 1, while Twitter came in second and Facebook No. 3. Only 23 percent ranked Facebook as their top social network, down from 42 percent just 18 months ago.

But, of course, Facebook owns Instagram...