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I'm actually impressed by our AIVD. Being Dutch, I always assumed our intelligence service were sheep in a world of wild animals; SAP consultants among elite ha

I'm actually impressed by our AIVD. Being Dutch, I always assumed our intelligence service were sheep in a world of wild animals; SAP consultants among elite hackers. This shows I was wrong, they seem to be actually competent and doing good work. Maybe I'll even rethink my opinion on the dragnet surveillance law that we will be voting on...

rollulus 9y ago
A few years ago I participated in the AIVD's cyber challenge. It involved reverse engineering an executable, spotting a flaw in the (custom) crypto algorithm which made it brute-forcable and then finally going to some train station where a final clue was hidden. After that, we, the people who solved the puzzle (5 or 6 iirc) were invited to the AIVD offices for a chat with the authors and a bit of PR and a tour through the museum (during which the big boss offered jobs (whispering) to a few of us). I was impressed by their skills, never expected that from government people really.
- Doxin 9y ago
  Have you had a look at the AIVD christmas puzzle as well? You can still download them for previous years. It's about what you'd expect if you ask a group of cryptographers to come up with crossword-style puzzles. It's all very challenging.
davedx 9y ago
I checked their website this morning and they're hiring too. :)
jacquesm 9y ago
AIVD is very impressive. It is nowhere near as well funded as foreign intelligence services but they are at the top of their game. That should not change your opinion on the dragnet surveillance though, especially because that will simply increase the size of the haystack with the same number of needles and so will take attention away from things that urgently require it. Dragnet surveillance is a net negative when you are resource constrained. Another Dutch official entity that has my admiration is the anti-child porn division, they are quite capable and deal with some of the worst stuff the internet has to offer.
pdpi 9y ago
It’s slightly paradoxical that we can recognise the competent intelligence outfits, but the elite are, by nature of their work, indistinguishable from the timidly inept
hencq 9y ago
> Maybe I'll even rethink my opinion on the dragnet surveillance law that we will be voting on... I wouldn't be surprised if the upcoming referendum on that dragnet law has something to do with this news coming out now.
IntronExon 9y ago
If you don’t have a giant military force, national security starts to critically depend on intelligence.
BrandoElFollito 9y ago
This is almost a rule in Europe. The visible part of these organizations (head, management and recommendations) are pitiful or plain outrageous (recommendations are usually years behind the reality, which contrasts with recent NIST posture). At the same time, the regular folks are usually surprisingly good, open and forward - thinking. They either work in the dark or have propositions which never reach the top. When I say "surprisingly", it is because that are statistically better than their counterparts in the private sector, and are payed way less.

rollulus 9y ago

A few years ago I participated in the AIVD's cyber challenge. It involved reverse engineering an executable, spotting a flaw in the (custom) crypto algorithm which made it brute-forcable and then finally going to some train station where a final clue was hidden. After that, we, the people who solved the puzzle (5 or 6 iirc) were invited to the AIVD offices for a chat with the authors and a bit of PR and a tour through the museum (during which the big boss offered jobs (whispering) to a few of us). I was impressed by their skills, never expected that from government people really.

Doxin 9y ago
Have you had a look at the AIVD christmas puzzle as well? You can still download them for previous years. It's about what you'd expect if you ask a group of cryptographers to come up with crossword-style puzzles. It's all very challenging.

davedx 9y ago

I checked their website this morning and they're hiring too. :)

jacquesm 9y ago

AIVD is very impressive. It is nowhere near as well funded as foreign intelligence services but they are at the top of their game. That should not change your opinion on the dragnet surveillance though, especially because that will simply increase the size of the haystack with the same number of needles and so will take attention away from things that urgently require it. Dragnet surveillance is a net negative when you are resource constrained. Another Dutch official entity that has my admiration is the anti-child porn division, they are quite capable and deal with some of the worst stuff the internet has to offer.

pdpi 9y ago

It’s slightly paradoxical that we can recognise the competent intelligence outfits, but the elite are, by nature of their work, indistinguishable from the timidly inept

hencq 9y ago

> Maybe I'll even rethink my opinion on the dragnet surveillance law that we will be voting on... I wouldn't be surprised if the upcoming referendum on that dragnet law has something to do with this news coming out now.

IntronExon 9y ago

If you don’t have a giant military force, national security starts to critically depend on intelligence.

BrandoElFollito 9y ago

This is almost a rule in Europe. The visible part of these organizations (head, management and recommendations) are pitiful or plain outrageous (recommendations are usually years behind the reality, which contrasts with recent NIST posture). At the same time, the regular folks are usually surprisingly good, open and forward - thinking. They either work in the dark or have propositions which never reach the top. When I say "surprisingly", it is because that are statistically better than their counterparts in the private sector, and are payed way less.