• LainOfTheWired@lemy.lol
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    10 months ago

    It’s not purely talent that allows them to make this kind of stuff. Otherwise people outside of these agencies would be making this stuff too. It’s also the fact the CIA or any of the others can go to apple for example and get all of the information on how these chips are made and the firmware on them, then put the company under a gag order.

    It is silly to assume the governments hackers are any better then a good hacker that doesn’t work for them. And you need to realise that their advantages come from legal power, resources, and lesser regulations on research.

    Because a lot of silly conspiracy theories seem to stem from people believing that the government are somehow superior beings, when the only thing that makes them different from anyone else is power.

    • PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Yup. The government has historically had issues keeping good hackers on their payroll. Because the good ones can make way more money in the private sector, so what incentive do they have to actually stick around?

      There’s also the issue that the federal government has been required to drug test due to regulations requiring all federal employees to be tested. And good luck finding a good hacker who would be willing to take a drug test.

      The only real edge the government hackers have is that they can force companies to give them insider access.

      • agitatedpotato@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        If you hire the hackers that tried to hack you instead of sending them to prison, you can fix the talent retention problem, but I think they already figured that out. Wonder if the kid who hacked GTA is being looked at in that way or if they don’t want to deal with his mannerisms.

        • test113@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          This happens rarely, and if it happens, the chances of it being someone we know from the media are almost 0; that would be all under the table. The “best” are the ones you don’t hear about because they are too busy working on actual stuff, same in most science fields.

          Most of them are recruited in “normal” ways; there is much more talent around these days. No need to engage with criminals and put them on actual sensitive stuff. Also, they get paid more than you might think; the people leading these projects are not stupid and make a simple mistake like underpaying talent they still need.

        • Riven@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          10 months ago

          Dude hacked again from within his hotel using the tv right? I wonder who’s in charge of doing that math. Hacker skill vs idiosyncrasies