Hackers Publish 70k Stolen Emails of Security Firm

A week after pro-WikiLeaks hacker organization 'Anonymous' reportedly infiltrated one of the security firms investigating their activity, the group has now published more than 70,000 emails stolen during that initial attack. Some of the messages reveal staggering details that could hurt the targeted company's reputation. HBGary Federal is an American security company investigating Anonymous, which late last year admitted responsibility for a series of hacks against major financial institutions, including Visa and MasterCard. All of the targeted institutions had, at the time, recently terminated their relationship with WikiLeaks, which until that point had included banking donations to the whistleblower organization.

Love Letters Amongst Published Emails

Last week HBGary was hacked by Anonymous, which stole approximately 71,000 company email messages.

Now those emails have been released and the results are fascinating: subject matter reportedly ranges from PowerPoint presentations addressing how false stories could be used to discredit WikiLeaks to love letters between HBGary executives.

Anonymous has made these emails available to just about anyone through a main site and several mirror pages. The emails contain information related to various HBGary managers, including Greg Hogland, Ted Vera, Phil Wallisch and even CEO Aaron Barr. (Source: digitaltrends.com)

Email Leak Proves Costly for HBGary

If it was Anonymous' goal to embarrass HBGary executives, it has apparently succeeded. However, it seems the flood of troubling emails is also having a major impact on the company's finances, as important partners like Berico Technologies and Palantir Technologies have reportedly cut ties with the firm in recent days.

Other reports suggest both the Bank of America (which was attacked by Anonymous in December) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have questioned HBGary's actions. (Source: switched.com)