According to leaked internal memos, private security firms with ties to the CIA and the Department of Defense proposed cyber attacks, media manipulation and other forms of subversive activity to protect Bank of America who was threatened by Wikileaks founder Julian Assange late last year.
It assesses the threat posed by Wikileaks and offers several modes of attack, most notably through media manipulation to expose “the radical and reckless nature of wikileaks activities.”
Click here to view the full document.
The document, which appears to be in the form of a power point presentation, urges a multi-pronged offensive to urge the media to “push” wikileaks as a “radical and reckless” organization.
Other recommended actions target wikileaks directly through cyber attacks as well as indirectly through their “hacktivist” supporters in the internet group Anonymous.
It continues, “Combating this threat requires advanced subject matter expertise in cyber security, insider threats, counter cyber fraud, targeting analysis, social media exploitation… [We] represent deep knowledge in these areas.”
The document recently obtained by Wikileaks is authored by three companies, Palantir, HBGary Federal and Berico Technologies, all private security firms with government ties. It was drawn up at the request of a law firm representing Bank of America, which tech blog The Tech Herald reports was recommended to the bank by the Department of Justice.
According to the Department of Defense, in December 2010, Palantir was awarded defense a defense contract totaling $9 million and Berico Technologies received contracts totaling $52 million.
Anonymous Strikes Back
Aaron Barr, CEO of HBGary Federal which is one of the implicated companies, repeatedly engaged Anonymous directly and through social networking in an attempt to discover their identities.
In a 24 page report leaked by posted by Wikileaks competitor and collaborator Cryptome.org dated January 31, 2011, Barr alleges to have discovered the real names of dozens of Anonymous members and several allied websites. This prompted a counter attack by Anonymous in which they successfully hacked Barr’s Twitter account. Pretending to be him, they posted profane pictures, released his address and social security number.
Barr was no stranger to Anonymous’s often cryptic dialect, calling anonymous members “trolls” and referenced various memes popular on the internet. In an email to a coworker, Barr wrote, “as 1337 as these guys are suppsed to be they don’t get it. I have pwned them! :)”
Click here for a complete rundown of Burr’s encounter with Anonymous.
According to Wired.com, after Barr’s conversation with Anonymous members on an IRC channel, the group hacked the security company’s website and replaced the front page with a taunting letter. Anonymous also claims to have successfully wiped 1 terabyte worth of backup data as well as his Barr’s iPad.
