02.13.11
Odious corporate spying firms, continued
Odious corporate spying forms HBGary Federal, Palantir Technologies and Berico Technologies continued to enjoy outrageously bad publicity as their botched plan to attack WikiLeaks and Glenn Greenwald was discussed in the mainstream press over the weekend.
The New York Times ran an item, notable for the statistic on a growth corporate industry whose products appear to be predatory behavior and throwing sand in the gears.
Jonathan E. Turner, who runs a Tennessee-based business that gathers intelligence for corporate clients, said that companies nationwide relied on investigators to gather potentially damaging information on possible business partners or rivals. “Information is power,??? said Mr. Turner, former chairman of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.
He estimated that the “competitive intelligence??? industry had 9,700 companies offering these services, with an annual market of more than $2 billion, but said there were limits to what tactics should be used.
Bank of America and the Chamber of Commerce distanced themselves on Friday from any effort to embarrass or collect disparaging information about their critics.
The Anonymous hacking group again raided the e-mails of HBGary Federal, promising the revelation of more incriminating and potentially criminal behavior.
None of this is particularly surprising in 2011 US of A. It’s fairly apparent that there is virtually no enthusiasm in the US government for regulation of companies whose business model is providing services for often illegally attacking the citizen critics of big corporations.
The banner motto for this story remains Palantir Technologies now shown to be fatuous claim:
Palantir was built by technologists serious about protecting privacy and civil liberties.
Cryptome samples some of the documents taken from HBGary Federal here.
They can be fairly characterized as deadening to mediocre slide show presentations in .pdf format, aimed at pitching the CEO’s expertise in various general security and social networking matters to dull but potentially evil white businessmen in corporate America.