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Public companies like NSO that are on the books can be taken down. They also limit to whom they sell. And sometimes can help to limit the damage (eg, I suspect
by sam_goody 6y ago
Public companies like NSO that are on the books can be taken down. They also limit to whom they sell. And sometimes can help to limit the damage (eg, I suspect Iran cannot use NSO tools to attack the Mossad).
But if their employees are hired by companies that are hacking for profit or "national security", there is no one to "take down". Or even keep your eye on.
And if they are hired by companies that sell this software in markets that are impossible to regulate (such as is done with hacked credit cards et al, from Russia, N. Korea, and elsewhere), then their hacks will be made available in such a manner that you perhaps could eventually take down some of them (if you spend dozens of years and gobs of money and arm-twisting), but by then the damage will be 100-fold, since there are no limits to whom it is sold. And even then, you can never know what else you missed.
- adriancr 6y agoIf companies such as these do not exist or are killed then the employees you mention will have a hard existing. Sure there are self taught people but a lot learn on the job. If companies are killed off then investments will be harder to come by and the tech to do the hacks will be harder to get to. Those employees if they decide to collaborate with Iran/NK/Russia vs the US will find US can easily arrest them once they set foot anywhere in the western world.
- bhouston 6y agoI am not sure that is the case. Remember when it was said that BTC anonymous marketplaces couldn't be stopped. They are regularly broken up and many prosecuted and put in jail. Of course more arise but the FBI and others are constantly "mowing the grass" to keep it under control. Mowing the grass works, it doesn't make the problem worse, it reduces the scope and number of players, and disincentives many players.