5 ms·

To be honest, 90k$ seems too small to take such huge risks. Were they already in some kinds of debt? Maybe, that tipped the FBI to target them?

by nafizh 5y ago

itake 5y ago
gov employees don't make much
idiotsecant 5y ago
And as someone below mentioned he was selling these secrets to France, which has got to be somewhat like stealing a bicycle and then pawning it 6 blocks away. What an incredibly risky and stupid move. I am so interested in the circumstances around this. Why did an (apparently) intelligent person do something so incredibly stupid?
- vkou 5y ago
  France and the United States have historically, and will likely continue to engage in industrial espionage against eachother.
- yosito 5y ago
  > Why did an (apparently) intelligent person do something so incredibly stupid? I suspect more information about the motives in this case will come to light, but two explanations come to mind: 1) People who are incredibly intelligent in one domain, are often not particularly intelligent in another. Especially with a highly specialized discipline like engineering, if you spend a lot of time developing your abilities in one area, it often comes at the expense of other areas. 2) People often make entirely rational decisions according to their circumstances, that may appear irrational to someone who can't see the whole picture. Perhaps there was some kind of duress or other factor that caused them to take a risk that seems stupid without being able to see the whole picture.
- michaelt 5y ago
  France has recently lost that Australian diesel submarine sale, in favour of American nuclear subs, and has made their displeasure very clear. Perhaps he misread the situation and imagined France would be receptive given that fact.
  - arlcode 5y ago
    This started in April of 2020 according to the FBI complaint. If it was France, maybe he selected a an ally which isn't an adversary to the US but has been critical of the USA (in particular of the former administration)
- secondaryacct 5y ago
  It s probably not France, the dude translated ffs, I know we re slow but come on, we can read sub spec and traitor cover letters in English if we must. It must be more exotic like Turkey or Iran no? And even then... And I cant find a cause we d incarnate for an american traitor: their either want a lot of money, which we wouldnt provide when we already have nuclear subs and a mature military research industry, are very communists which we're not or very far right lunatics which we're not. I think Israel is more likely (underdog in a sea of sharks for some), Iran (unfairly treated), Russia/China (will show those libtards) or an oil giant in the middle east (money) or maybe some south american thing. I mean the guy is an idiot but France, I wouldnt betray any other country for it and Im French... what we dont do ourselves we dont deserve.
  - tptacek 5y ago
    It can't be Iran, since there's no embassy (or "building associated with Iran") in Washington DC for the FBI to signal from. It's not going to be Russia or China, because the FBI's story implies cooperation.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
  - yyyk 5y ago
    The guy is an idiot but I guess he knows something about nuclear submarines. If you're Turkey or Israel or Saudi you don't want nuclear subs, and he must have known that. Nuclear subs don't make sense over diesel+AIP in the Med or the Persian Gulf or Red Sea - these seas are too narrow or too shallow, so nuke subs would be detected much sooner, cost much more, and be far larger. Having longer trips does not cover all these drawbacks for countries that must base in these areas. Nuclear subs are for blue-water navies, not green-water navies. Iran/Russia/China are out for reasons pointed out elsewhere in the comments. UK wouldn't need translation (though the idea of 'translating' a spynote into Chav is IMHO incredibly amusing). South American governments obviously don't have money for this. That leaves us with France or - more exotically - Spain/South Korea/Japan. The latter three don't have nuclear subs, but wouldn't be entirely mad to consider them. However, if the recipient has an existing industry, France is the only remaining logical contender.
wly_cdgr 5y ago
According to the indictment, he had a totally sane and realistic plan to do about 50 dead drops total for about $5M total
abvdasker 5y ago
I wonder if the government ever looks at the laughable compensation of its employees as a security risk. Every time I see salary numbers — even for very specialized and prestigious jobs — I’m shocked at how little they make.
- yosito 5y ago
  I've often met people who seem to think that the answer for corruption is to pay people less, so that "greedy" people aren't drawn to important jobs. This moralistic viewpoint in which money and wealth are seen as sins is very dangerous. There are some countries, like Singapore, which pay key public positions generously to prevent corruption, and it works!
- relaxing 5y ago
  Little by SV standards, but pretty decent for the rest of the country. It’s easy to make 6 figures plus excellent benefits for a job that’s relatively low stress.

To be honest, 90k$ seems too small to take such huge risks. Were they already in some kinds of debt? Maybe, that tipped the FBI to target them?

by nafizh 5y ago

To be honest, 90k$ seems too small to take such huge risks. Were they already in some kinds of debt? Maybe, that tipped the FBI to target them?

itake 5y ago

gov employees don't make much

idiotsecant 5y ago

And as someone below mentioned he was selling these secrets to France, which has got to be somewhat like stealing a bicycle and then pawning it 6 blocks away. What an incredibly risky and stupid move. I am so interested in the circumstances around this. Why did an (apparently) intelligent person do something so incredibly stupid?

vkou 5y ago
France and the United States have historically, and will likely continue to engage in industrial espionage against eachother.
yosito 5y ago
> Why did an (apparently) intelligent person do something so incredibly stupid? I suspect more information about the motives in this case will come to light, but two explanations come to mind: 1) People who are incredibly intelligent in one domain, are often not particularly intelligent in another. Especially with a highly specialized discipline like engineering, if you spend a lot of time developing your abilities in one area, it often comes at the expense of other areas. 2) People often make entirely rational decisions according to their circumstances, that may appear irrational to someone who can't see the whole picture. Perhaps there was some kind of duress or other factor that caused them to take a risk that seems stupid without being able to see the whole picture.
michaelt 5y ago
France has recently lost that Australian diesel submarine sale, in favour of American nuclear subs, and has made their displeasure very clear. Perhaps he misread the situation and imagined France would be receptive given that fact.
- arlcode 5y ago
  This started in April of 2020 according to the FBI complaint. If it was France, maybe he selected a an ally which isn't an adversary to the US but has been critical of the USA (in particular of the former administration)
secondaryacct 5y ago
It s probably not France, the dude translated ffs, I know we re slow but come on, we can read sub spec and traitor cover letters in English if we must. It must be more exotic like Turkey or Iran no? And even then... And I cant find a cause we d incarnate for an american traitor: their either want a lot of money, which we wouldnt provide when we already have nuclear subs and a mature military research industry, are very communists which we're not or very far right lunatics which we're not. I think Israel is more likely (underdog in a sea of sharks for some), Iran (unfairly treated), Russia/China (will show those libtards) or an oil giant in the middle east (money) or maybe some south american thing. I mean the guy is an idiot but France, I wouldnt betray any other country for it and Im French... what we dont do ourselves we dont deserve.
- tptacek 5y ago
  It can't be Iran, since there's no embassy (or "building associated with Iran") in Washington DC for the FBI to signal from. It's not going to be Russia or China, because the FBI's story implies cooperation.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
- yyyk 5y ago
  The guy is an idiot but I guess he knows something about nuclear submarines. If you're Turkey or Israel or Saudi you don't want nuclear subs, and he must have known that. Nuclear subs don't make sense over diesel+AIP in the Med or the Persian Gulf or Red Sea - these seas are too narrow or too shallow, so nuke subs would be detected much sooner, cost much more, and be far larger. Having longer trips does not cover all these drawbacks for countries that must base in these areas. Nuclear subs are for blue-water navies, not green-water navies. Iran/Russia/China are out for reasons pointed out elsewhere in the comments. UK wouldn't need translation (though the idea of 'translating' a spynote into Chav is IMHO incredibly amusing). South American governments obviously don't have money for this. That leaves us with France or - more exotically - Spain/South Korea/Japan. The latter three don't have nuclear subs, but wouldn't be entirely mad to consider them. However, if the recipient has an existing industry, France is the only remaining logical contender.

wly_cdgr 5y ago

According to the indictment, he had a totally sane and realistic plan to do about 50 dead drops total for about $5M total

abvdasker 5y ago

I wonder if the government ever looks at the laughable compensation of its employees as a security risk. Every time I see salary numbers — even for very specialized and prestigious jobs — I’m shocked at how little they make.

yosito 5y ago
I've often met people who seem to think that the answer for corruption is to pay people less, so that "greedy" people aren't drawn to important jobs. This moralistic viewpoint in which money and wealth are seen as sins is very dangerous. There are some countries, like Singapore, which pay key public positions generously to prevent corruption, and it works!
relaxing 5y ago
Little by SV standards, but pretty decent for the rest of the country. It’s easy to make 6 figures plus excellent benefits for a job that’s relatively low stress.