http://www.dailydot.com/politics/brg-cybersecurity-silk-road-fbi-poached/
The FBI team that brought down Silk Road has a new home.
After headline-grabbing investigations, arrests, and prosecutions on some of America's highest-profile cybercriminals, five of U.S. law enforcement's most prized cybercrime aces have all left government service for greener pastures--a titan consulting firm called Berkeley Research Group (BRG).
BRG's newly hired gang of five includes former federal prosecutor Thomas Brown, as well as former FBI agents Christopher Tarbell, Thomas Kiernan, and Ilhwan Yum--names that punctuated many of the biggest cybercrime stories of the last decade.
This is simply an arm of the FBI or other 3 letter agency. BUT......now all they do is track, hack, and try to exploit, then pass what they gain on to the actual government.
The Feds have to walk a legal line, these guys not so much. If the feds get caught illegaly exploiting something it could blow their case so instead they just use these "civilians" and pay them a consulting fee instead of being on the actual federal payroll.