The Aaron Barr Takedown
One of the most fascinating chapters in Anonymous history concerned Aaron Barr, the CEO of HBGary Federal, who'd bragged about how he'd infiltrated Anonymous, and was set to reveal the identities of its key leaders. Anonymous responded by hacking into HBGary's email server less than 24 hours later, and claimed that a 16-year-old girl had socially engineered the social-media-friendly Barr. Anonymous (including future LulzSec leader Sabu, the rumor goes) then released a slew of emails claiming that HBGary had been retained by Bank of America--on the recommendation of the Department of Justice--to help it wage an anti-WikiLeaks campaign, after the whistle-blowing website claimed to have damning emails about the bank's practices. Other emails, meanwhile, detailed secret cyber-warfare tool-building programs, as well as legally questionable activities. Barr, meanwhile, cancelled his appearance on a DefCon July 2011 panel titled "Whoever Fights Monsters: Aaron Barr, Anonymous, and Ourselves."
Photo: Day 9 Occupy Wall Street September 25 2011 by David Shankbone, Flickr. Used with permission via a Creative Commons license.
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