An obscure cybersecurity firm from Sacramento has been swept up in a bizarre scandal involving an affiliated company and an alleged plot to discredit liberal critics of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
As the controversy intensified, the Sacramento company abruptly withdrew from a high-profile cybersecurity convention being held this week at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. The conference ends today.
The company, HBGary Inc., pulled out because employees "have received numerous threats of violence, including threats at our trade show booth," according to a statement posted on its website.
The controversy involves an affiliated company called HBGary Federal Inc., which has offices in Colorado and Washington, D.C.
According to e-mails obtained by the hacker group Anonymous and posted by ThinkProgress.org, a left-leaning group, HBGary Federal was crafting a disinformation campaign to undermine such liberal organizations as the Service Employees International Union and Change to Win, a coalition of labor unions.
