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HBGary Federal CEO Aaron Barr Steps Down

threatpost.com

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Re: HBGary Federal CEO Aaron Barr Steps Down

#31

Post by stcredzero »

motters wrote: post #22

The internet amplifies reputational risk. My guess is that if HBGary has any future they will at the very minimum have to change their company name. Reading some of the leaked emails provides (at least for me) a shocking insight into the dark side of the internet and how social networks can be abused for sinister purposes. Assuming HBGary isn't the only company involved in these sorts of machinations it raises some r…

My hunch is that this very social network and its close cousin reddit are being manipulated by groups following discordian ideologies. In short, it's being manipulated for fun and "profit." ("Profit" in the form of media-manipulation capability.) In other words, it's being manipulated for the LULZ. (By people who don't know how to analyze what they read and argue cogently.)

The flavor of logic and discourse on this site has taken a definite turn for the worse. Nonsensical and somewhat juvenile reactions to my comments occur with frightening regularity.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2270002

Re: HBGary Federal CEO Aaron Barr Steps Down

#32

Post by stcredzero »

jonknee wrote: post #27
jacques_chester wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It has always worked. Tallyrand, Napoleon's Foreign Minister, observed that one of the functions of a government is to rename institutions which have, under the old name, become odious.

My point wasn't that it didn't use to work, but that it shouldn't work anymore now that everyone has access to history instantly...

Too bad so many lack the attention span to utilize it.

Re: HBGary Federal CEO Aaron Barr Steps Down

#34

Post by learner4life »

The most disturbing thing about this episode is that DOJ referred BoA to HBGary. It is truly scary when government is in the business of targeting its own individuals. One has to wonder how it is different from Ben Ali or Gaddafi targeting their own people. Sure the scale is different, but the principle is the same.

Re: HBGary Federal CEO Aaron Barr Steps Down

#35

Post by Aetius »

_b8r0 wrote: post #16

Without Barr, it's likely that Federal is over (that is assuming that it isn't already over regardless), which is probably not a bad thing for HBGary but will be for anyone who invested in federal. I think the lesson for everyone here is not to fund a company sharing your brand name without some degree of control over what they're doing and the ability to immediately fire the guy in charge if they endanger the parent…

The lesson is to screen for and not hire giant egotistical douchebags who will write checks that they can't cash.

Re: HBGary Federal CEO Aaron Barr Steps Down

#36

Post by icegreentea »

gojomo wrote: post #19
georgieporgie wrote: post #3

This is wildly irrelevant, but I have to ask: does anyone else experience profound irritation at the name "HBGary"? Every time I read the name, my reading flow stops and I stare at the name. HBWhat? Does that stand for something? Are they initials? Who is Gary? Are they from Indiana? It triggers this bizarre, deep-down irritation like nothing else I've ever seen.

I had just assumed it was based on names of people associated with its founding, like JDEdwards, JDPower, TD Waterhouse, HP, Lockheed-Martin or even the Debian project. (Do those other arbitrary names trigger a similar irritation?) With HBGary, though, only the 'H' can be clearly attributed to a founder declared on their 'about' page, Greg Hogland. But they probably had other people in mind for the rest at the foundi…

The TD in TD Waterhouse actually stands for Toronto-Dominion. They picked that up after the merger of the Bank of Toronto and the Dominion Bank of Canada waaaaay back then.

Re: HBGary Federal CEO Aaron Barr Steps Down

#37

Post by jarin »

sp_ wrote: post #18
georgieporgie wrote: post #3

This is wildly irrelevant, but I have to ask: does anyone else experience profound irritation at the name "HBGary"? Every time I read the name, my reading flow stops and I stare at the name. HBWhat? Does that stand for something? Are they initials? Who is Gary? Are they from Indiana? It triggers this bizarre, deep-down irritation like nothing else I've ever seen.

The name comes from the three co-founders. The H is for Hoglund (Greg). The B is for Bracken (Shawn). The Gary is for Jon Gary who left the company shortly after it was founded.

My question is what did Jon Gary do to get his whole name in there?

Re: HBGary Federal CEO Aaron Barr Steps Down

#39

Post by drinian »

Nate75Sanders wrote: post #26
bane wrote: post #2

At this point they're going to just have to change the name of the company.

We need websites that track _individuals_ for their reputation instead of just businesses. I recently had a moving company move my car across the country. I picked the #1 rated broker in the United States the last 2 years running. They're just the broker, though. They pick an actual trucking company to move your car. I found out that the individuals involved in the company moving my car had opened 3 other companies i…

Are you familiar with Whuffie, which was a fictional reputational currency?

I'm pretty sure that with the advent of decentralized currencies like BitCoin, we could probably implement Whuffie now.

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Whuffie

Re: HBGary Federal CEO Aaron Barr Steps Down

#40

Post by tzs »

jonknee wrote: post #14
bane wrote: post #2

At this point they're going to just have to change the name of the company.

It's stupid/frustrating in this day and age that changing the company's name after a big fuck up actually works.

On the other hand, it is great for companies that are falsely accused, and the false accusation sticks. I've seen people make the most ridiculous false claims on forums, then others find these when Googling and repeat them any time the company gets mentioned. Several years later, someone will mention that company in passing, and then someone pops up saying they plant child porn on your computer or steal your credit card.

It's nice when going into a new line of business to be able to do it under a new name and not have to deal with that crap.

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