Security News > 2011 > February > HBGary Execs Run For Cover As Hacking Scandal Escalates
http://blogs.forbes.com/andygreenberg/2011/02/15/hbgary-execs-run-for-cover-as-hacking-scandal-escalates/ By Andy Greenberg The Firewall Forbes.com Feb. 15, 2011 Rarely in the history of the cybersecurity industry has a company become so toxic so quickly as HBGary Federal. Over the last week, many of the firmâs closest partners and largest clients have cut ties with the Sacramento startup. And now itâs cancelled all public appearances by its executives at the industryâs biggest conference in the hopes of ducking a scandal that seems to grow daily as more of its questionable practices come to light. Last week, the hacker group Anonymous released more than 40,000 of HBGary Federalâs emails, followed by another 27,000 from its sister company, HBGary, over the weekend. Those files, stolen in retaliation for an attempt by HBGary Federal CEO Aaron Barr to penetrate Anonymous and identify its members, revealed a long list of borderline illegal tactics. Ars Technica has posted a well-constructed narrative of the firmâs bad behavior. The short version: It proposed services to clients like a law firm working with Bank of America and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that included cyberattacks and misinformation campaigns, phishing emails and fake social networking profiles, pressuring journalists and intimidating the financial donors to clientsâ enemies including WikiLeaks, unions and non-profits that opposed the Chamber. HBGary responded Monday with a statement on its website that itâs âcontinuing to work intensely with law enforcement on this matter and hopes to bring those responsible to justice.â In the mean time, the firm is canceling all its executivesâ talks at the RSA conference, the largest cybersecurity industry confab of the year, taking place this week in San Francisco. HBGary chief executive Greg Hoglund had planned to give two presentations at the conference. HBGary Federal CEO Barr last week canceled his talk at the simultaneous B-Sides conference, which would have focused on his expose on Anonymous. The company said in its statement that it had been subject to numerous threats of violence, including some received at its RSA marketing booth. [...]