A secret campaign to take out groups and organizations that oppose the policies and agendas of the US Chamber of Commerce (USCC) and the US government has been outed, thanks to an archive of private emails obtained by Think Progress. According to reports, USCC hired HBGary, Federal and several other defense contractors to create fake accounts on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter in order to sabotage progressive groups critical of the organization's platform.
But now it has been revealed that some of the same contractors employed by the US government are now selling their information gathering and spying services to the highest private bidders, which in this case includes USCC. Private emails obtained by the infamous "Anonymous" group bring to light plans by HBGary's executive Aaron Barr to partner with several other organizations, and create fake online identities, mine personal data, and even hack personal
Besides its work with USCC, HBGary has also been exposed for selling its "persona management" services to the US government as well, presumably for the purpose of spying and infiltrating groups that oppose US-instigated wars and foreign occupation, for instance.