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Now that the code makers have run far beyond the code breakers, hacking is all entities like the NSA have left. So of course they are hording vulnerabilities. T
by upofadown 10y ago
Now that the code makers have run far beyond the code breakers, hacking is all entities like the NSA have left. So of course they are hording vulnerabilities. That's all they can do.
Cracking systems probably isn't going to lead to anything worthwhile. It isn't targeted enough. The thing that the NSA fears the most is the perception that they are not worth the money. It's a legitimate fear.
- tptacek 10y agoFirst, I think there's a lot of truth to the idea that NSA's primary motivation is headcount. I think that's an important and significant point that isn't raised often enough in these discussions. It has implications beyond vulnerability disclosure! (For instance: it's a very good reason to be wary of things like DNSSEC, that make it expensive but not intractable to attack Internet trust at its core). But I don't know what you mean by your first paragraph, or by the notion that "cracking systems isn't going to lead to anything worthwhile".
- nickthemagicman 10y agoWhats the distinction between hacking and cracking?
- mastax 10y agoSome would like to promote 'hacking' as screwing around with things for fun/learning and 'hacking' as digital breaking and entering. Seems like an uphill battle to me but its probsbly useful to have a distinction.