The important part of this news story is that a teenager is working in a major role of the United States government. Hiring convicted hackers is honestly fine. Lotta really smart kids make one dumb mistake in high school and get their security clearance nixed for life. Sometimes, if their mistake was really cool, they'll even get a plea deal from the U.S. government that includes a job.
this post was submitted on 06 Feb 2025
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I gotta say, this part :
Worked at Startup That Has Hired Convicted Hackers
I couldn't care about in the least. Corporations in this country will regularly press charges against anyone pointing out security flaws in their systems. The fact that someone has been convicted of cyber crimes, only proves that they're competent, it says nothing about their ethical standards.
While your sentiment is valid, the hiring practices for the sensitive information dealt with by individuals in government require intense scrutiny. The point you raise is true, but when someone finds a valid exploit, they can ignore it, report it to get fixed before someone exploits it, or they can exploit it themselves.
Regardless of how small the exploit, a person who does not choose to report it maybe doesn’t need any harsh penalties, but do you want them to have access to a database with your personal information including SSN, and the ability to freely access systems that control trillions in financial transactions?
Background checks for clearance purposes don’t simply look at your history and say no if you have anything on your record. They look at what is on your record, conduct interviews with you, your close contacts, identify where potential risks may lie. They compare those findings with the level and access you’d be granted and determine a risk level associated with granting you that access.
Bypassing those checks, for the systems in question, opens up the entire population to an unknown, unquantified risk, which has not been assessed. This means the risk must be assumed to be the highest level.
Hey, I agree, background checks should still be done, I'm 100% on board with that. But you should probably also know that all of our national intelligence agencies actively recruit hackers, and many with checkered pasts. It used to be that big hacker events, conferences like defcon or black hat, they would have a "spot the Fed" contest, attendees would pick out the under cover federal agents in the crowd; these days the FBI gets a booth, they're handing out business cards, they're taking resumes.
Yes 100%. They’re not giving them the keys to the financial systems without being certain they’re not going to abuse it. But they might pay them to find exploits in it. It’s all about being assessed for the job you’re being evaluated for.
This is exactly as the Blessed Saint Ayn Rand and her agent in government, the Blessed Saint Ronnie Raygun (PBUH), would have envisioned Galt's Gulch in its most perfect state.
All these "job creators" - who were made rich due to being corporate welfare queens - move right into government agencies and set up their Galt's Gulch, because they are Special Beings and obviously all the wealth this country creates is something they are entitled to just hack into and steal.
It's such a shame the Randroid fathers/mothers aren't around to see their rotten fruit being harvested...
Your country is being run by idiots and idiot children.
I don’t think Hanlon’s razor really applies anymore, they know exactly what they’re doing and that they can get away with it
If you can't trust Big Balls and his sexy Tesla hackers to run the government efficiently, who can you trust?
I don't care how rich he is. I'm embarrassed for him.
I'm not embarrassed, he should have his assets seized and he should be deported. I know he won't suffer any consequences.
Seems like something Elon would support.
Something elon IS supporting
The show Silicon Valley seemed so absurd at the time. Now I know I was too normal if anything.
If his balls are big, that means he isn't getting any surely.
Not a security risk at all, nosiree /s
Fuck musk and his goons, but hiring convicted hackers is pretty normal tbh.
Really? Tell me more about these normal 19-year-olds who hire convicted hackers for their companies that specifically advertise to Russia and China.
Can you read? I didnt say anything about 19 year olds or Russia or China. I just said convicted hackers. Its so common that its a running joke for the CIA/NSA to hire anyone who successfully breaches their systems. If you dont hire the people that managed to breach confidential systems, then you are not hiring the best.
Usually they get a plea deal that gives them their freedom on the condition that they work for the gov.
Do you think maybe the context here is important?
No, there was actually no added context needed as his comment was correct without any added context.
You just decided to put words into his mouth to make the comment seem incorrect
The context of the article's headline.
But hey, easier to attack someone for no reason, am I right?
Maybe the blurb should have that added context, because otherwise it sounds like “ooo scary hackers” when it’s the Russian and Chinese connections that are scary.
I can speak to that happening in the private sector. Apple often hires famous jailbreakers, exploiters, and high-contribution bug reporters to improve their own security software, rather than prosecuting them for breach of ToS.
Source: Worked for Apple for a decade