Re: Security Grifters Partner-Up on Sinister Cyber-Surveillance Project
Subject: Re: Security Grifters Partner-Up on Sinister Cyber-Surveillance Project
From: Tom Burghardt <antifa89202@gmail.com>
Date: 7/4/11, 10:21
To: Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com>

Hi Barrett,

The problem with most of the small, niche firms is that's all you can do is find very basic, almost generic information. Most of what I used in the Archimedes section of my piece came from quotes from their web site two years ago. Even that's mostly been purged since then. As far as Endgame Systems go, the first I heard of them was in Steve Ragan's Tech Herald piece from last week. There's nothing in google cache, nearly a complete wipe! There's a small entry in Wikipedia (https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Endgame_systems) and the profile from Bloomberg BusinessWeek (http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=98342557), which I'm sure you've seen. Tried the WayBack Machine (http://web.archive.org/web/20081203124515/http://www.endgames.us/) Not much! Let's hope Bloomberg is more successful! :)

On Sun, Jul 3, 2011 at 7:42 PM, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:
Tom-

Thanks very much for the expanded research you've done on this, which is exactly what I was hoping someone would do. The couple of people with whom I'm working and I have only been able to find very basic information on the peripheral firms such as Archimedes, so the info you've provided here is much appreciated. I've linked to your piece at the top of the Romas/COIN page on our wiki and over the next few weeks we'll start incorporating the info you've provided here onto the rest of the wiki, which I hope to serve as an increasingly helpful data set for the few journalists and activists who have undertaken to study and report on all of this. I've also tweeted the Pacific Press URL just now and it's already being sent around a bit, so hopefully those who can best use this info will get it.

A bit of good news; you may be familiar with Endgame Systems, which comes up quite a bit in the HBGary e-mails (http://wiki.echelon2.org:8090/wiki/Endgame_Systems), partly in reference to their expressed intent to remain outside of the public eye at the behest of their clients in the intel world. Bloomberg has been looking into them and will be putting out a big story on the firm soon - and it will reference their aversion to scrutiny, which should hopefully prompt more. Meanwhile, Endgame took down their website a few weeks back and it has remained down since; our wiki entry for the firm is now #2 for any Google search for their name. So hopefully we'll see some media traction on the industry as a whole.

Anyway, thanks again for pursuing this.


On Sun, Jul 3, 2011 at 1:18 PM, Tom Burghardt <antifa89202@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Barrett,

Following-up on your excellent Romas/COIN research, I've just published a piece "Security Grifters Partner-Up on Sinister Cyber-Surveillance Project," on Antifascist Calling. During the course of writing that piece, and going through the HBGary emails, I discovered that TASC executives' recommendation to contact "Alterion" was in all likelihood a typo, and they meant the UK-based firm "Alterian" which actually produced the SM2 social media monitoring tool referred to in their email. Additionally, a 2010 press release from Alterian mentions the partnership they forged with the Dubai-based SocialEyez firm. I also provided additional information on another "partner" Barr and his friends were interested in bringing into the HBGary Federal/TASC "recompete," the ultra-spooky and truly dangerous company Archimedes Global.

Please feel free, if you choose, to publish my piece on the Echelon 2 web site. I've included an HTML version.

Keep up the great work!

warm regards,
Tom



--
Regards,

Barrett Brown
512-560-2302