Ntrepid

Ntrepid
Software, hardware, and cyber security company
Founded October 25, 2010
Headquarters Herndon, Virginia, U.S.
Products Passages
ION
Nfusion
Timestream
Tartan
Virtus
ELUSIV
Subsidiaries Anonymizer
Website ntrepidcorp.com

Ntrepid is an American software, hardware, and cyber security company, registered in Florida and based in Herndon, Virginia.[1][2][3]

History

In 2008, the Anonymizer company was acquired by the Abraxas Corporation, which was purchased by Cubic in 2010 for $124 million.[4] Some of Abraxas' former employees left to form Ntrepid that same year.[4] Lance Cottrell, founder of Anonymizer, is the chief scientist at Ntrepid.[5] Anonymizer is wholly owned by Ntrepid.[6][7]

Military contract

In March 2011, Ntrepid won a $2.76 million contract from the U.S. military for "online persona management."[2] The contract was for the creation of technology which would allow for blogging activities on websites, exclusively outside of the United States, to "counter violent extremist and enemy propaganda."[6][8] It would allow for one operator to anonymously create and control up to ten personas from one computer.[3] Each persona would have a background, history, supporting details, and cyber presence that is consistent from a technical, cultural, and geographic standpoint.[9]

The project is overseen by U.S. Central Command (Centcom), whose spokesman Commander Bill Speaks stated that the operation would be carried out in Arabic, Farsi, and Urdu.[2]

The project is thought to be connected with Operation Earnest Voice.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Business Entity Detail: Ntrepid Corporation". California Secretary of State. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Nick Fielding and Ian Cobain, "Revealed: US spy operation that manipulates social media", The Guardian, March 17, 2011. Retrieved March 24, 2011.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Alex Spillius, "Pentagon buys social networking 'spy software'", The Telegraph, March 17, 2011. Retrieved March 24, 2011.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Anonymizer tied to company selling TrapWire surveillance to governments". Network World. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  5. ↑ "Using System Fingerprints to Track Attackers". Tripwire. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Shaun Waterman, "U.S. Central Command ‘friending’ the enemy in psychological war", Washington Times, March 1, 2011. Retrieved March 24, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Examining the ties between TrapWire, Abraxas and Anonymizer". ZDNet. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  8. ↑ "US Military Propagandizes Social Media With Fake Accounts". Vox News. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  9. ↑ Lee, Amy (March 17, 2011). "U.S. Military Launches Spy Operation Using Fake Online Identities". Huffington Post. Retrieved March 25, 2011.

External links