Difference between revisions of "HBGary"

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Emails indicate [[Palantir Technologies]], [[Berico Technologies]], and the law firm Hunton & Williams, which was acting for [[Bank of America]] at the recommendation of the [[US Justice Department]],<ref name=":1" /> all cooperated on the project.<ref name=":2" /> Other e-mails appear to show the [[U.S. Chamber of Commerce]] contracted the firms to spy on and discredit unions and liberal groups.<ref name="fdl1">http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2011/02/10/will-the-chamber-continue-wits-hbgary-work-now-that-theyve-been-hacked/</ref>
 
Emails indicate [[Palantir Technologies]], [[Berico Technologies]], and the law firm Hunton & Williams, which was acting for [[Bank of America]] at the recommendation of the [[US Justice Department]],<ref name=":1" /> all cooperated on the project.<ref name=":2" /> Other e-mails appear to show the [[U.S. Chamber of Commerce]] contracted the firms to spy on and discredit unions and liberal groups.<ref name="fdl1">http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2011/02/10/will-the-chamber-continue-wits-hbgary-work-now-that-theyve-been-hacked/</ref>
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An archive of the e-mails is kept at the [[OCCRP]].<ref>https://aleph.occrp.org/datasets/1061</ref>
  
 
=== Astroturfing ===
 
=== Astroturfing ===

Revision as of 22:49, 10 April 2023

Group.png HBGary  
(Cyberwarfare contractor) WebsiteRdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
HBGary.png
Formation2003
FounderGreg Hoglund.jpg Greg Hoglund
InterestsAstroturfing, Sock puppets, Malware, Anonymous, WikiLeaks
Interest ofBarrett Brown
Company that developed sophisticated software for the control of sock puppets.

HBGary was founded by Greg Hoglund in 2003 as a company offering IT services.[1][2] HBGary Federal had been set up with Aaron Barr as CEO instead of Hoglund to provide services and tools to the US government, which might require security clearance.[3] As HBGary Federal could not meet revenue projections, in early 2011 negotiations about the sale of HBGary Federal were in progress [4] and the company was acquired by ManTech International in February 2012.[5]

WikiLeaks, Bank of America, Hunton & Williams, and Anonymous

In 2010, Aaron Barr, CEO of HBGary Federal, alleged that he could exploit social media to gather information about hackers.[6]

In early 2011, Barr claimed to have used his techniques to infiltrate Anonymous,[6][7][8] partly by using IRC, Facebook, Twitter, and by social engineering.[6][9] His e-mails depict his intention to release information on the identities of Anonymous members at the B-Sides conference and to sell it to possible clients,[6][10] including the FBI.[11] In the e-mails, Barr explained that he identified his list of suspected Anonymous "members" by tracing connections through social media, while his main programmer criticized this methodology.[6][12] In a communiqué, Anonymous denied association with the individuals that Barr named.[13][14]

On 5–6 February 2011, Anonymous compromised the HBGary website, copied tens of thousands of documents from both HBGary Federal and HBGary, Inc., posted tens of thousands of both companies' emails online, and usurped Barr's Twitter account in apparent revenge.[9][15][16] Anonymous also claimed to have wiped Barr's iPad remotely.[6][10][17][18] The Anonymous group responsible for these attacks became part of LulzSec.[19]

The conflict with Anonymous caused substantial public relations damage. As a result, the involved organizations took steps to distance themselves from HBGary and HBGary Federal.

Content of the emails

Some of the documents taken by Anonymous show HBGary Federal was working on behalf of Bank of America to respond to WikiLeaks planned release of the bank's internal documents.[20][21] "Potential proactive tactics against WikiLeaks include feeding the fuel between the feuding groups, disinformation, creating messages around actions to sabotage or discredit the opposing organization, and submitting fake documents to WikiLeaks and then calling out the error."[22]

As a means of undermining Wikileaks, Aaron Barr suggested faking documents to damage Wikileaks' reputation and conducting "cyber attacks against the infrastructure to get data on document submitters. This would kill the project". He also suggested pressuring journalist Glenn Greenwald and other supporters of Wikileaks, who, Barr suggested, would choose to abandon support for Wikileaks in order to preserve their careers.[23]

In the emails, two employees of HBGary referenced a blog post that endorsed manipulating translation software in order to 'mitigate' damaging content within information leaks.[24]

Emails indicate Palantir Technologies, Berico Technologies, and the law firm Hunton & Williams, which was acting for Bank of America at the recommendation of the US Justice Department,[11] all cooperated on the project.[22] Other e-mails appear to show the U.S. Chamber of Commerce contracted the firms to spy on and discredit unions and liberal groups.[25]

An archive of the e-mails is kept at the OCCRP.[26]

Astroturfing

It has been reported that HBGary Federal was contracted by the US government to develop astroturfing software which could create an "army" of multiple fake social media profiles.[27][28]

Malware development

HBGary had made numerous threats of cyber-attacks against WikiLeaks. The hacked emails revealed HBGary Inc. was working on the development of a new type of Windows rootkit, code-named Magenta,[11] that would be "undetectable" and "almost impossible to remove."[29]

In October 2010, Greg Hoglund proposed to Barr creating "a large set of unlicensed Windows 7 themes for video games and movies appropriate for the Middle East & Asia" which "would contain back doors" as part of an ongoing campaign to attack support for WikiLeaks.[30]

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Related Documents

TitleTypePublication dateAuthor(s)Description
Document:Anonymous Surpasses Wikileaksarticle17 February 2011John Young
Document:Romas/COINWikispooks Page2011Barrett Brown
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References

  1. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20090328044411/http://www.hbgary.com/company/about/
  2. ↑ http://www.darkreading.com/database-security/167901020/security/news/225700716/index.html
  3. ↑ http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/02/16/hbgary_federal
  4. ↑ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/02/anonymous-vs-hbgary-the-aftermath.ars/2
  5. ↑ http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2012/02/28/hb-gary-sacramento-man-tech-cyber-securi.html
  6. ↑ a b c d e f https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/02/how-one-security-firm-tracked-anonymousand-paid-a-heavy-price.ars
  7. ↑ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/online/hacktivists-take-control-of-internet-security-firms-2207440.html
  8. ↑ https://www.ft.com/content/87dc140e-3099-11e0-9de3-00144feabdc0
  9. ↑ a b https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/02/anonymous-speaks-the-inside-story-of-the-hbgary-hack.ars
  10. ↑ a b https://blogs.forbes.com/parmyolson/2011/02/07/victim-of-anonymous-attack-speaks-out/
  11. ↑ a b c https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2011/02/07/victim-of-anonymous-attack-speaks-out/
  12. ↑ http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110211/11013413056/play-play-how-hbgary-federal-tried-to-expose-anonymous-got-hacked-instead.shtml?threaded=false&sp=1
  13. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20110207111445/http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/2294/internetsanon.jpg
  14. ↑ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2011/02/how-one-security-firm-tracked-anonymousand-paid-a-heavy-price/
  15. ↑ https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2011/02/06/anonymous-takes-revenge-on-security-firm-for-trying-to-sell-supporters-details-to-fbi/
  16. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20131208062435/http://www.h-online.com/security/features/Anonymous-makes-a-laughing-stock-of-HBGary-1198176.html
  17. ↑ http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0c9ff214-32e3-11e0-9a61-00144feabdc0.html
  18. ↑ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/02/virtually-face-to-face-when-aaron-barr-met-anonymous.ars
  19. ↑ http://content.usatoday.com/communities/technologylive/post/2011/06/whos-who-among-key-lulzsec-hackitivists/1
  20. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20110211024334/http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/201106/6798/Data-intelligence-firms-proposed-a-systematic-attack-against-WikiLeaks?page=1
  21. ↑ https://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/02/17/hbgary_hack_redux/
  22. ↑ a b https://web.archive.org/web/20110212063613/http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/201106/6804/Firm-targeting-WikiLeaks-cuts-ties-with-HBGary-apologizes-to-reporter
  23. ↑ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2011/02/the-ridiculous-plan-to-attack-wikileaks/
  24. ↑ http://wikileaksdecrypted.com/bankofamerica-wikileaks-hbgary-palantir/
  25. ↑ http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2011/02/10/will-the-chamber-continue-wits-hbgary-work-now-that-theyve-been-hacked/
  26. ↑ https://aleph.occrp.org/datasets/1061
  27. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20110224055843/http://blogs.computerworld.com/17852/army_of_fake_social_media_friends_to_promote_propaganda
  28. ↑ http://www.boingboing.net/2011/02/18/hbgarys-high-volume.html
  29. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20110217201027/http://crowdleaks.org/hbgary-inc-working-on-secret-rootkit-project-codename-magenta/
  30. ↑ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/02/the-ridiculous-plan-to-attack-wikileaks.ars
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