NEW YORK (Reuters) — Hewlett-Packard Co. has admitted that private investigators hired by its board had acquired the phone records of several journalists in an attempt to find a suspected boardroom leaker, the Financial Times reported Friday.

Hewlett-Packard (Charts) declined to reveal the number of journalists who had been caught up in the probe, adding it was cooperating with the California Attorney General’s office, the FT reported.

The newspaper quoted an HP spokesman as saying, “We are absolutely horrified that the records of journalists were accessed without their authorization.”

Nine journalists’ phone records were obtained by Hewlett-Packard during their investigation into the board leak, according to various news reports.

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