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Ntrepid

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ntrepid
Company typeSoftware, hardware, and cyber security company
FoundedOctober 25, 2010; 13 years ago (2010-10-25)
Headquarters,
U.S.
ProductsPassages
ION
Nfusion
Timestream
Tartan
Virtus
ELUSIV
SubsidiariesAnonymizer
Websitentrepidcorp.com

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

History

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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

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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]

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, Persian, and Urdu.[2]

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

References

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  1. ^ "Business Entity Detail: Ntrepid Corporation". California Secretary of State. Archived from the original on 2 April 2010. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d Cobain, Ian; Fielding, Nick (2011-03-17). "Revealed: US spy operation that manipulates social media". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
  3. ^ a b Alex Spillius, "Pentagon buys social networking 'spy software'", The Telegraph, March 17, 2011. Retrieved March 24, 2011.
  4. ^ a b "Anonymizer tied to company selling TrapWire surveillance to governments". Network World. 14 August 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  5. ^ "Using System Fingerprints to Track Attackers". Tripwire. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  6. ^ a b 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.
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