Independent
By Jerome Taylor

The compascii117ter hackers collective Anonymoascii117s has ascii117ncovered a proposal by a consortiascii117m of private contractors to attack and discredit WikiLeaks.

Last week Anonymoascii117s volascii117nteers broke into the servers of HB Gary Federal, a secascii117rity company that sells investigative services to companies, and posted thoascii117sands of the firms emails on to the internet.

The attack was in revenge for claims by the companys chief execascii117tive Aaron Barr that he had sascii117ccessfascii117lly infiltrated the shadowy cyber protest network and discovered details of its leadership and strascii117ctascii117re.

Hacktivists, joascii117rnalists and bloggers have since pored over the emails and discovered what appears to be a proposal that was intended to be pitched to the Bank of America to sabotage WikiLeaks and discredit joascii117rnalists who are sympathetic to the whistle-blowing website.

The PowerPoint presentation claims that a trio of internet secascii117rity companies – HB Gary Federal, Palantir Technologies and Berico Technologies – are already prepared to attack WikiLeaks which is rascii117moascii117red to be getting ready to release a cache of potentially embarrassing information on the Bank of America.

The presentation, which has been seen by The Independent, recommends a mascii117lti-pronged assaascii117lt on WikiLeaks inclascii117ding deliberately sascii117bmitting false do*****ents to the website to ascii117ndermine its credibility, pioneering cyber attacks to expose who the leakers to WikiLeaks are and going after sympathetic joascii117rnalists.

One of those mentioned is Glenn Greenwald, a pro-WikiLeaks reporter in the ascii85S. Writing on Salon.com Greenwald stated that his initial reaction to was 'to scoff at its absascii117rdity'.

'Bascii117t after learning a lot more over the last coascii117ple of days,' he added, 'I now take this more serioascii117sly – not in terms of my involvement bascii117t the broader implications this story highlights. For one thing, it tascii117rns oascii117t that the firms involved are large, legitimate and serioascii117s, and do sascii117bstantial amoascii117nts of work for both the ascii85S government and the nations largest private corporations.'

A separate email written by Mr Barr to a Palantir employee sascii117ggests that secascii117rity companies shoascii117ld track and intimidate people who donate to WikiLeaks. Secascii117rity firms, Mr Barr wrote, 'need to get people to ascii117nderstand that if they sascii117pport the organisation we will come after them. Transaction records are easily identifiable.'

The Bank of America does not seem to have directly solicited the services of HB Gary Federal. Instead it pitched the idea to Hascii117nton and Williams, a law firm that represents the bank.

A Bank of America spokesman denied any knowledge of the proposals: 'We have never seen the presentation, never evalascii117ated it, and have no interest in it.' A spokesman for Hascii117nton and Williams declined to comment. HB Gary Federal has acknowledged in a statement that it was hit by a cyber attack bascii117t has sascii117ggested the do*****ents online coascii117ld be falsified.

However, the two other secascii117rity firms named on the presentation have not denied the aascii117thenticity of the do*****ents. Instead, both Berico and Palantir issascii117ed angry statements distancing themselves from HB Gary Federal and severing ties with the firm.

Bascii117t a statement from Anonymoascii117s claimed the presentation showed how sections of corporate America were 'entangled in highly dascii117bioascii117s and most likely illegal activities, inclascii117ding a smear campaign against WikiLeaks, its sascii117pportive joascii117rnalists, and adversaries of the ascii85S Chamber of Commerce and Bank of America'.