The contract calls for the development of "Persona Management Software" which would help the user create and manage a variety of distinct fake profiles online. The job listing was discussed in recently leaked emails from the private security firm HBGary after an attack by internet activist last week.
Click here to view the government contract (PDF) (original)
(UPDATE 3/5/11: The official web listing seems to have been removed. PDF copy is still available though)
According to the contract, the software would "protect the identity of government agencies" by employing a number of false signals to convince users that the poster is in fact a real person. A single user could manage unique background information and status updates for up to 10 fake people from a single computer.
The software enables the government to shield its identity through a number of different methods including the ability to assign unique IP addresses to each persona and the ability to make it appear as though the user is posting from other locations around the world.
Included in HBGary's leaked emails was a government proposal for the government contract. The document describes how they would 'friend' real people on Facebook as a way to convey government messages. The document reads:
- "Those names can be cross-referenced across Facebook, twitter, MySpace, and other social media services to collect information on each individual. Once enough information is collected this information can be used to gain access to these individuals social circles.
- Even the most restrictive and security conscious of persons can be exploited. Through the targeting and information reconnaissance phase, a person’s hometown and high school will be revealed. An adversary can create a classmates.com account at the same high school and year and find out people you went to high school with that do not have Facebook accounts, then create the account and send a friend request. Under the mutual friend decision, which is where most people can be exploited, an adversary can look at a targets friend list if it is exposed and find a targets most socially promiscuous friends, the ones that have over 300-500 friends, friend them to develop mutual friends before sending a friend request to the target. To that end friend’s accounts can be compromised and used to post malicious material to a targets wall. When choosing to participate in social media an individual is only as protected as his/her weakest friend."
Other documents in the leaked emails include quotes from HBGary CEO Aaron Barr saying, "There are a variety of social media tricks we can use to add a level of realness to all fictitious personas... Using hashtags and gaming some location based check-in services we can make it appear as if a persona was actually at a conference and introduce himself/herself to key individuals as part of the exercise, as one example."
Additional emails between HBGary employees, usually originating from Barr, discuss the vulnerability social networking causes.
One employee wrote, "and now social networks are closing the gap between attacker and victim, to the point I just found (via linked-in) 112 females, wives of service men, all stationed at Hurlbert Field FL - in case you don't know this is where the CIA flies all their "private" airlines out of. What a damn joke - the U.S. is no longer the super power in cyber, and probably won't be in other areas soon."
Barr also predicted a steady rise in clandestine or secret government operations to stem the flow of sensitive information. "I would say there is going to be a resurgence of black ops in the coming year as decision makers settle with our inadequacies... Critical infrastructure, finance, defense industrial base, and government have rivers of unauthorized communications flowing from them and there are no real efforts to stop it."
The creation of internet propoganda software is only one of HBGary's controversial activities. According to Wikileaks competetor and occasional collaborator Cryptome.org, several other progressive organizations were intended to be targeted including anti-war activist, anti-torture organizations and groups opposed to the US Chamber of Commerce.
The emails also include a number of other embarrasing entries including the purchase of the book "The Multi-Orgasmic Man: Sexual Secrets Every Man Should Know" from Amazon for $6.76.
Comments
Is it just me or does anybody else notice that the wording and phrasing in that proposal seems rather amateurish? By the way, there's a difference between HBGary and HBGary Federal which you're not acknowledging. You're attributing acts of one to the other.
HBGary federal is a branch of HBGary... that's all.
I did notice that FedBizOpps doesn't have any record of the Solicitation # referenced in the document. (FBO is the legit site that lists all RFP's, etc for all Federal contracting opportunities). Also noticed that the document's links all seem to be broken. At first the article seemed legit, but I'm starting to have some suspicions about it all now. At best, it's shoddy reporting.
read the cached version of the website, which was apparently 'scrubbed': http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:6tHUDPB03ywJ:https:...
It all seems a psycho projection from those who are in fear of losing control.
Way past time to start burning down their houses!
Fire will cleanse almost anything. : )
Nope, they were crooks through and through. Fueling the 'threat' factor while lining their pockets (or trying to in HBGary's case). In failing so dramaticly, it reveals a culture of deception, deceit and disruption. Their tools of the trade.
Check Wikipedia > Greg Hoglund 'created' the first malicious rootkit (a virus that can completely take over a computer) more than ten years ago.
This sad but scary saga could be way more damaging to the U.S. government than WikiLeaks. Word has it that this story is being actively suppressed.
Sound familiar?
This is very disturbing.
Also, this website is lame with all it's popup ads.
Did you guys somehow miss the 2008 election?
Where would Obama be without Astroturfing?
Interesting stuff. It'll be most intriguing to see how this shakes out!
in an effort to promote hope and change and remain transparent, the government is you friend. Long live Big Brother!
Is this for real? You people do realize that the document that this person cites is totally fake and the website "www.fedbizopps.gov doesn't even exist. I mean, yeesh, you call yourself a journalist? It took me all of two seconds to type that into my browser to figure out that this call for a "contract" isn't even real.
Of course it's a real website. Try spelling it properly. Troll.
Anonymous, it took me about 30 seconds to get on the website you said doesn't exist. Sorry, you blew this one. I suggest you go chat with some of your fake online friends.
I just followed your link - http://www.fedbizopps.gov/ - and the site came up right away. It definitely does exist.
when I click on www.fedbizopps.gov I get a website, what is the issue?
www.fezbizopps.gov is in fact a real government website. I got there through your link.
read the cached version
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:6tHUDPB03ywJ:https:...
just visited the website in your quotations. sorry man
This is not new. Democrats and the progressive media have been falsifying polls for 50 years, showing how many people just love their corrupt, racist, socialist agenda. Then they believe their own lies and are "shocked" on election day! LOL
That's cute you still think there is still a difference between Democrats and Republicans. They are both working against us and for the elite. I mean we had Bush what a looser giving our money away to the big banks, sending us off to war, torturing and killing people. All for valuable information where the terrorists will attack next. Oh and lets not forget the Patriot Act. Then we get that idiot Obama, damn, he gave us change. Same bull@%&, gave more of our money away, kept us at war and resigned the Patriot act. I fail to see the difference.
Okay, so I did some looking around the author's (Kerrigan's) website. What makes you, Sean Kerrigan, so sure that all that info isn't BS put there by Anonymous when they hacked that guy's account? I smell a rat.
No fun, no prosperity, no joy, no happiness. Communism takes everything. No thinking, no comfort, no peace. Just fake government, with nothing more important than creeping around in the personal lives of everyone, making it a miserable experience for all. It's not enough to steal the wealth of everyone, all other pleasure must be done away with as well. Profoundly evil. But evidently a fake president must cover his behind! The fake internet czars working hard for his cause. Come on, they have to earn the $$ that we're paying them. A great implementation! What great hope and change has come to America.
what can you expect from a bunch of low life liberals. Misery likes company. Unfortunately, those of us see thru the garbage these liberals try to put out and we are not paying attention to it . Further more liberalism is a mental disorder and can not be cured.
did you have trouble reading what is actually in the article, the groups targeted
(anti-war,anti-torture,anti-chamber of commerce) are liberal in nature
Big pharma make big bucks for vaccine for libtards and muzzies.
DBLT virus & the MM7C viruzzie.
First google the RTB number... it'll take you to this: https: //www. fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=d7d528fbb946211d092a974ed0ff5cfb&tab=core&tabmode=list&=
Seems legit to me... I put a space between https: and // as well as the www. and fbo -
This seems pretty legit to me.
Those dastardly liberals and their secret plans!
Their secret plans they post OPENLY ON A FEDERAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY WEBSITE.
Oh, wait, that's to lull us into complacency, am I right?
They are so sneaky!
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=d88e9d66033...
If you don't believe the PDF here is the actual link on the .gov website
Libtards political party of "smooth talkers". Create misery everywhere, then appoint themselves "helpers of the people".
Blowhards.
It was WAY more than creepy that the federal government would engage in this sort of activity. I don't mean from a propaganda aspect, but from gathering data and "infiltrating" other people's accounts etc....
How would they use this when it comes to on-line voting? I'm sure they would try to vote just as much as the try to vote fraudulently now, but on-line, it would be even worse because they created "real people".
But I don't put this past them at all. If something doesn't already exist in the liberals world, they create it. Hangman's noose on a minorities doorknob? If it's not there, a liberal will hang one and blame conservatives anyway. Not enough conservatives shooting liberal politicians? Wait for some (liberal) to do it and then let the WHOLE state run media blame conservatives for it, even AFTER they find out the shooter was a raging liberal. Not enough liberals out there agreeing with odumbo's policies??? Why just create them!!
Nothing new here. But the length's they're willing to go to infiltrate people's lives, is really, really scary.
I hope they get investigated for this. Along with TONS of other sneaky/illegal dealings they have done in the past couple years.
Lies! All lies!
And I know 10 people who will agree with me!
Nyeah!
Propaganda is spelled incorrectly.
Actually, the U.S. government and their private security contractors got this idea from somebody else: Anonymous, the griefers' collective.
They thought up the idea first of using proxies to post on Internet forums with fake accounts; they're the masters of the sock puppet and the alt.
Well done job getting idiots to fall for this one. I hope you are getting rich through your pay-per-clicks here on Examiner. Fox Nation again shows its idiocy in linking to you.
1984...here we come....funny how Bush's methods for gathering info on our enemies was put out there and condemned from all the so-called main-stream media..thinigs like monitoring phone calls made to terrorists countries...yet, this is okay and no one is talking about it on the main stream media...so convenient to just over look this latest infringement into our privacy....anything the regime wants....seems to be okay with the liberals...
those dastardly liberals using social media to combat terrorists >:| they should be ashamed
From the looks of things, this wall could have been 'compromised' by folks described in the article.
I agree.
ARTICLE PROVIDES A GOOD REASON T O STAY OFF TWITTER AND FACE BOOK AS THE INFORMATION GOES TO MANY PLACES! THERE WAS A PROGRAM ON T.V ALL ABOUT THIS !!
I think people have figured this sort of thing out. That's the US gov for ya' probably spent millions on this proposal. By the way US gov and idiots, people already do this, the are called trolls........
This will hurt facebook and twitter more than anyone else. The reason people fled the newspapers was because they didn't like what they read. If social networking sites allow this to happen, eventually the majority of the "real" people will just find another platform to exchange their views without having to deal with annoying trolls.
"This will hurt facebook and twitter more than anyone else. The reason people fled the newspapers was because they didn't like what they read. If social networking sites allow this to happen, eventually the majority of the "real" people will just find another platform to exchange their views without having to deal with annoying trolls".
"The answer here is simple: Only befriend (online) the people you have met and exchanged contact info with in real life. Follow this one rule and the problem evaporates." - anonymous
The above two comments are the most rational, sensable, and pro-active post si have read thus far.
The mudslinging between parties and blaming of one party by another only serves as an attempt to protect the name of the party one is affiliated with. Controversial issues including the ones discussed on this page as well as ALL other political issues can not be attributed to liberalism, communism, democrats, republicans, or any other party. The issues at hand solely deem attention and resolution. When are people going to band together to address and focus on actual issues instead of resorting to child-like behavior of pointing fingers? Come on folks!
It is not informative or helpful for me, anyone else, and our leaders, to hear and read "The democrats are idiots"! Seriously, how does this help you? LETS BE SOLUTION ORIENTED PLEASE!
The answer here is simple: Only befriend (online) the people you have met and exchanged contact info with in real life. Follow this one rule and the problem evaporates.
In other words, only friend friends. What a concept!
Read the article. The technique includes spoofing that they are someone you know in real life.
If the written word(books) is an option, visit the bookstore of your choice. Many books are available to read and discuss with close friends only and then as individuals, begin to sow the "Unintended Consequences". We are all too late to the dance, time is wasting away as we wait for the right time to do something. Our mistake was letting the "Tories" remain in the country after the British failed to stop our revolution.
funny but that last part about a book is actually a good book
"Even the most restrictive and security conscious of persons can be exploited."
Well, no. The most restrictive and security conscious people don't establish social media accounts in the first place. High five.
Frankly, I don't see what the big hooraw is here. Presidents, VPs, Senators, and Congressmen have been "government fake people" for decades now, and you're still voting for them, so what's a few more on Spyspace and Fakebook?
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