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Strong as the weakest link...NSA with virtually unlimited budget brought to its knees: "Inside the agency’s Maryland headquarters and its campuses around the c

Strong as the weakest link...NSA with virtually unlimited budget brought to its knees: "Inside the agency’s Maryland headquarters and its campuses around the country, N.S.A. employees have been subjected to polygraphs and suspended from their jobs in a hunt for turncoats allied with the Shadow Brokers. Much of the agency’s arsenal is still being replaced, curtailing operations. Morale has plunged, and experienced specialists are leaving the agency for better-paying jobs — including with firms defending computer networks from intrusions that use the N.S.A.’s leaked tools. “It’s a disaster on multiple levels,” Mr. Williams said. “It’s embarrassing that the people responsible for this have not been brought to justice.” https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/12/us/nsa-shadow-brokers.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/12/us/nsa-shadow-brokers.htm...

joering2 9y ago
Revolving door. Gee, wonder if eventually someone will come to conclusion that the whole thing was not needed in the first place. Unless, you know - there is some proven intel that this agency actually stopped mass-terror attack on a US soil; something that supposed to be their main task. But hey! So long as military industrial complex find just another good-enough-for-public reason to spend more of tax-payers money, then there is nothing to see here...
- nielsbot 9y ago
  Surely this is wishful thinking. Can we build enough public outrage to make a difference?
  - joering2 9y ago
    Nothing changed after Snowden revelations, so the answer is absolutely no.
- ringaroundthetx 9y ago
  I was going to say something, but then I realized this already conformed to my world views It is surprising that the Shadow Broker leaks are seemingly being so effective at the NSA questioning itself. There is so much cognitive dissonance about the NSA's acumen. People view software engineers hired at Google and Facebook with so much regard, and the schools they come from with so much regard, while simultaneously putting the theoretical NSA engineers above even those guys without realizing the NSA hires from state schools in the Maryland, DC, VA area. My main point here is that software engineering programs aren't better or worse at Ivy League vs Tier 3 universities, and isn't much of an indication of the prowess of the engineer. The NSA's unlimited budget, loss leading tasks of finding exploits, and immunity to execute these exploits is the only thing that sets it apart.
  - tbtowzhtow 9y ago
    Indeed, technologically enabled sociopathic behaviors emanate from Silicon Valley. Only the best and brightest would be capable of being part of such a machine. It’s not an understatement to say that the big tech companies have a soul, with the same principles of survival perpetuated against its very users who give them life in the first place. SV sees government as competition — another threat — particularly the NSA, data collection being the common basis of their value propositions. Culturally engrained rebellion, disconnect from nationalistic pride — our culture in America is quite the mashup.
  - Iv 9y ago
    Secrecy + PR is a good way to make a project look good.
  - Retric 9y ago
    School 'Tier' has close to zero relationship to engineering talent at the high end.* Effectively sifting though large numbers of applicants, training them, and most importantly retaining them is far more important. NSA is very good at retention and training while still attracting vast numbers of applicants resulting in a world class work force. Google/Facebook/etc suffer as people want them on their resume more than they want to work for them which hurts retention. The upside is this forces them to pay very well, but the downside is the average team is surprisingly poor. *AKA a randomly selected Stanford/etc. grad is likely better than a randomly selected Virginia Tech/etc. grad, but the best at each institution is a toss up. If you want a large talented workforce you can't be selective in terms of schools as their simply are not enough of them.
- Iv 9y ago
  What we need is an agency patching zero days as it finds them. We need that agency to have a double of the budget than the agency that weaponizes them.
  - ryacko 9y ago
    In theory it could be both. Most companies take a long time to patch bugs.

joering2 9y ago

Revolving door. Gee, wonder if eventually someone will come to conclusion that the whole thing was not needed in the first place. Unless, you know - there is some proven intel that this agency actually stopped mass-terror attack on a US soil; something that supposed to be their main task. But hey! So long as military industrial complex find just another good-enough-for-public reason to spend more of tax-payers money, then there is nothing to see here...

nielsbot 9y ago
Surely this is wishful thinking. Can we build enough public outrage to make a difference?
- joering2 9y ago
  Nothing changed after Snowden revelations, so the answer is absolutely no.
ringaroundthetx 9y ago
I was going to say something, but then I realized this already conformed to my world views It is surprising that the Shadow Broker leaks are seemingly being so effective at the NSA questioning itself. There is so much cognitive dissonance about the NSA's acumen. People view software engineers hired at Google and Facebook with so much regard, and the schools they come from with so much regard, while simultaneously putting the theoretical NSA engineers above even those guys without realizing the NSA hires from state schools in the Maryland, DC, VA area. My main point here is that software engineering programs aren't better or worse at Ivy League vs Tier 3 universities, and isn't much of an indication of the prowess of the engineer. The NSA's unlimited budget, loss leading tasks of finding exploits, and immunity to execute these exploits is the only thing that sets it apart.
- tbtowzhtow 9y ago
  Indeed, technologically enabled sociopathic behaviors emanate from Silicon Valley. Only the best and brightest would be capable of being part of such a machine. It’s not an understatement to say that the big tech companies have a soul, with the same principles of survival perpetuated against its very users who give them life in the first place. SV sees government as competition — another threat — particularly the NSA, data collection being the common basis of their value propositions. Culturally engrained rebellion, disconnect from nationalistic pride — our culture in America is quite the mashup.
- Iv 9y ago
  Secrecy + PR is a good way to make a project look good.
- Retric 9y ago
  School 'Tier' has close to zero relationship to engineering talent at the high end.* Effectively sifting though large numbers of applicants, training them, and most importantly retaining them is far more important. NSA is very good at retention and training while still attracting vast numbers of applicants resulting in a world class work force. Google/Facebook/etc suffer as people want them on their resume more than they want to work for them which hurts retention. The upside is this forces them to pay very well, but the downside is the average team is surprisingly poor. *AKA a randomly selected Stanford/etc. grad is likely better than a randomly selected Virginia Tech/etc. grad, but the best at each institution is a toss up. If you want a large talented workforce you can't be selective in terms of schools as their simply are not enough of them.
Iv 9y ago
What we need is an agency patching zero days as it finds them. We need that agency to have a double of the budget than the agency that weaponizes them.
- ryacko 9y ago
  In theory it could be both. Most companies take a long time to patch bugs.