Operation Metal Gear: Anonymous
p2pnet view P2P | Freedom:- Something with tremendous significance and importance to everyone off- as well as online centres on the creation of fake people which/who can be manipulated by their creators.
“The ‘fake insiders’ are quite literally potentially limitless numbers of artificial people existing only in lines of code created by programmers specifically to be used by their ‘owners’ to give a false reading of consensus”, p2pnet said two weeks ago in a follow-up to our much earlier story quoting a US Air Force contract from the 6th Contracting Squadron at MacDill Air Force Base, south of Tampa, Florida.
Not only but also, front and center was disgraced US ‘security’ firm HBGary Federal in the shape of its gone-but-not-forgotten CEO, Aaron Barr.
Implicated are Global Business Solutions and Associates LLC, Uk Plus Logistics, Ltd., NevinTelecom, Bunker Communications and Planmatrix LLC, said Raw Story.
But although the lamescream press corpse are finally catching up, it’s once again left to Anonymous to uncover more of the dirt behind the bland facade.
‘Crowding out’ unwelcome opinions
“The US military is developing software that will let it secretly manipulate social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter by using fake online personas to influence internet conversations and spread pro-American propaganda”, says the Guardian, continuing >>>
A Californian corporation has been awarded a contract with United States Central Command (Centcom), which oversees US armed operations in the Middle East and Central Asia, to develop what is described as an “online persona management service” that will allow one US serviceman or woman to control up to 10 separate identities based all over the world.
The project has been likened by web experts to China’s attempts to control and restrict free speech on the internet. Critics are likely to complain that it will allow the US military to create a false consensus in online conversations, crowd out unwelcome opinions and smother commentaries or reports that do not correspond with its own objectives.
The discovery that the US military is developing false online personalities – known to users of social media as “sock puppets” – could also encourage other governments, private companies and non-government organisations to do the same.
Says the Mail Online >>>
The American military has spent $2.8million on software to create fake personas on social networking websites in a bid to curb online jihadists.
The U.S. Central Command (Centcom) has awarded a $2.76million contract to California company Ntrepid in order to create false identities – known as ‘sock puppets’ – to manipulate conversations on sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
The move is reportedly intended to hamper online extremism but critics will argue the scheme actually strikes a blow against free speech.
Operation Metal Gear
Now, meet “Operation Metal Gear” stemming from a “string of leaked HBGary emails wherein a company by the name of Booz Allen Hamilton, in direct contact with Aaron Barr, is believed to have bid on and successfully won the contract to develop an unnamed software from the US Air Force”, says Anonymous in a p2pnet Reader’s Write.
Posted on Anon News, “This software will be known as ‘Metal Gear’ for informational purposes”, says the Anonymous press release, stating, “The primary goal of this operation is to find out exactly what metal gear is and why they are developing it.
“What is ‘Metal Gear’ ? We codenamed the software that we believe Booz Allen Hamilton and some of their partners are working on.”
It goes on >>>
The nature of the software is partially known, from the documents that we have seen and from what some employees have said it is a software that would allow a single agent to command an ‘army’ of sockpuppet accounts on social networking mediums. It is sophisticated enough to develop a ‘profile’ for each puppet to add a level of ‘realism’ to each. In short, there would be no feasible way to distinguish between 100 people commenting on a subject, and 100 of these puppets doing the same.
“This is nothing new for those of us familiar with how the net works. However, given recent events across the world, the idea behind Metal Gear seems to be ‘weaponizing’ sockpuppets, in order to influence the face of revolutions that are based within social networking sites.
- What you see below is the actual document we used under the investigation (which is still going) so there may be some random notes and other weird things that we haven’t removed yet.
- If there is something you can’t understand, please contact us in #OpMetalGear on IRC.
- For reporters/press, join #reporter
Audio recording of our announcement (16th of March 2011)
http://ge.tt/5tzZlkq (try various browsers if stream does not work)
IBM Patent
http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20090313274
http://hbgary.anonleaks.ch/phil_hbgary_com/14294h.html
Airforce contract
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:6tHUDPB03ywJ:https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USAF/AMC/6CS/RTB220610/listing.html+https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USAF/AMC/6CS/RTB220610/listing.html&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&source=www.google.co.uk
The Patent:
http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20090313274
Inventors:
Li Chen
(Documentation Needed)
Yongcheng Li
(Documentation Needed)
Govndaraj Sampathkumar
IBM Corporation 3901 S. Miami Blvd
Durham, NC 27703-9315, USA
+1-919-224-1190
gsampath@us.ibm.com
Ryan Urquhart
(Documentation Needed)
Agent:
HOLMAN IP LAW / IBM RSW
https://sites.google.com/a/holmaniplaw.com/www/profile
(This is the profile for Holman IP Law. It is no longer active.)
http://www.linkedin.com/in/holman
http://www.techpatents.com/jeff_holman.html
(These are profiles of Jeff Holman, formerly of Holman IP law, now with a firm called WH&H. Same person.)
http://bit.ly/fP0A44
(IBM RSW is believed to be an IBM office near the SW Regional Airport in Florida.)
4037 Del Prado Boulevard South, Cape Coral, FL
(239) 945-1013
Patent application number: 20090313274
http://www.ificlaims.com/ificls/IPC8_Concordance_helpmenu_final.asp
ALSO WORTH LOOKING INTO;
http://hbgary.anonleaks.ch/ted_hbgary_com/6555.html
Meeting/training class between NSA, USAF, HBGary, Booz Allen & other various sec companies
Note: Why are the exact same companies that are intrested in Metal Gear have a seminar about a malware analyzing software?
http://hbgary.anonleaks.ch/phil_hbgary_com/14294h.html
The purpose of the meeting/thing was to school them in Responder Pro
Phil Wallisch was the instructor.
Dox of guys in the meeting
Parties involved;
http://www.mandiant.com/
NSA
IBM
USAF
HBGary
Booz Allen Hamilton
Here’s the list of folks who will be attending ‘class’:
Protip: call these people, ask them about Metal Gear, ask them about the air force, NSA, USAF, Aaron Barr. Get them worried, get them talking.
Keesok Han USAF Keesook.Han@rl.af.mil
keeseok@kangwon.ac.kr
http://bit.ly/dPFV23 – some document about Keeseok.
DEPARTMENT OF FUCKING HOMELAND SECURITY
http://www.ksea.org/KSEA/Newsletters/FullVersion/Archived/Vol_11_3_1982.pdf <- someone check this out, search for his name
<- whitepages say 3 or less with this name, it may also be Kesook, misspelt on purpose?
Jose Faura NSA NTOC faura2@gmail.com
http://hb.cryptologic.tk/greg_hbgary_com/13095.html
http://orlando.blockshopper.com/property/302317168500110/4277_conway_place/
Zane Lackey iSEC Partners zane@isecpartners.com
http://hbgary.anonleaks.ch/phil_hbgary_com/15070.html Scott K. Brown
> Technical Director
> NSA Blue Team
> (410) 854-6529
> sbrown@dewnet.ncsc.mil
George Peslis DISA george.peslis@disa.mil
Jimmy Lloyd DISA James.Lloyd@disa.mil
http://sellingtoarmy.com/uploads/Army_OSBP_Newsletter_Oct2010-Jan2011.pdf
Eric Potter DISA Eric.Potter@disa.mil
Phil Geneste BAH geneste_philip@bah.com
Patrick Upatham Verdasys pupatham@verdasys.com
Security Solutions Manager
Verdasys, Inc.
Mobile: +1 339.222.4022
David Black IBM david.black@us.ibm.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/dcblack?goback=.npp_%2Fjerome *5byrne%2F13%2F3B5%2F43B
Engagement Manager
Emergency Response Service
IBM Security Services
Kansas City, Missouri USA
Office: (+001) 816-525-5494
Tim Sherald DISA timothy.sherald@disa.mil
> Tim Sherald
> Computer Scientist
> DISA FSO – IRRT (FS42)
> timothy.sherald@disa.mil
> timothy.sherald@disa.smil.mil
> Comm: 717-267-9370
> DSN: 570-9370
> Cell: 717-414-3450
Christina Smyre NSA clsmyre@nsa.gov
http://www.facebook.com/clsmyre <- real, matches with email
clsmyre@gmail.com
http://n-design.com/EN/other_pubs/Entries/2002/5/9_SANS_Beyond_Firewalls_files/SANSDenver.Sample.pdf <- someone dig in this
John Laliberte NSA
http://www.facebook.com/people/John-Laliberte/13949810 <- not sure
AAPC G-PPE Task Force Members <—-
http://www.fasab.gov/pdffiles/gppetf_roster.pdf
Eric Potter brought us to that link <- check it out
Stay tuned.
p2pnet – All the phony people …, March 4, 2011
much earlier story – Fake online people! Order yours now!, February 19, 2011
gone-but-not-forgotten – HBGary Federal’s Aaron Barr hits the road, March 1, 2011
Raw Story – Revealed: Air Force ordered software to manage army of fake virtual people, Guardian – February 18, 2011 – Revealed: US spy operation that manipulates social media, March 17, 2011
Mail Online – Combating jihadists and free speech: How the U.S. military is using fake online profiles to spread propaganda, March 18, 2011
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
World War III will be a global information war with no division between civilian & military participation ~ Marshall McLuhan
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