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This is comical. Of course more than one person knows about each 0-day at NSO. Maybe they even brought it over from a different place. And they can forward it (

by shmatt 5y ago

This is comical. Of course more than one person knows about each 0-day at NSO. Maybe they even brought it over from a different place. And they can forward it (for money or ego) to 1000 other people. There truly is no limit, once someone has committed the idea to anyone but themselves NSO (and the smaller, anonymous companies) are famous for bringing in people from Israeli NSA (8200) or Mossad. Why? They're not just smart, they also have a bank of 0-days in their brains. Even if they're not bringing over actual code, they remember all of the 0-days they were exposed to. There is no way to stop them from "uploading" their knowledge to a new company with a 7 figure compensation package At some point the UAE figured this out, and Dark Matter opened an office in Cyprus. Offering ex-8200 7 figures (in $) to come build cyber weapons for them, limiting their dependency on NSO and export licenses[1]. The Israeli Govt. was furious but it wasn't illegal to move abroad and work for a foreign country [1]https://www.themarker.com/technation/.premium-1.7972249 https://www.themarker.com/technation/.premium-1.7972249 - requires translation to english

golergka 5y ago
> NSO (and the smaller, anonymous companies) are famous for bringing in people from Israeli NSA (8200) or Mossad. Literally every tech company in Israel has people from 8200. I worked at a few mobile game companies, and each had 22 year old kids straight from the 8200.
- thinkingemote 5y ago
  also worth stating that Israel has compulsory military service, so a huge number of computer geeks, like you and me, will get into this service for the mandated time rather than the more physical and distasteful alternatives. It's (i imagine) like an enforced first year MIT cyber security course for the majority of people in that service. In summary, the label of belonging to them means not that much in reality - rather one should look at length of service, age of entry and any subsequent / previous activities when they leave. (basically like any other cybersecurity job, really)
- shmatt 5y ago
  true, and 8200 is huge, being there doesn't mean much in terms of ability to remotely take over an iPhone The more accurate description is - these cyber weapon companies bring in the 22 year olds that were building cyber weapons in 8200 Its an elite group of a couple hundred at most. who are then snatched up for their existing knowledge, even if they can't figure out how to find new exploits
bjourne 5y ago
Companies hire people from government agencies for their connections. Government jobs doesn't pay a lot. Thus there is an implicit agreement that if a government employee awards contracts to a company they will eventually be "rewarded" by being hired into a good-paying job with that company. Repeat this process a few times and employees learn the process. You scratch our back and we scratch yours.

by shmatt 5y ago

golergka 5y ago

> NSO (and the smaller, anonymous companies) are famous for bringing in people from Israeli NSA (8200) or Mossad. Literally every tech company in Israel has people from 8200. I worked at a few mobile game companies, and each had 22 year old kids straight from the 8200.

thinkingemote 5y ago
also worth stating that Israel has compulsory military service, so a huge number of computer geeks, like you and me, will get into this service for the mandated time rather than the more physical and distasteful alternatives. It's (i imagine) like an enforced first year MIT cyber security course for the majority of people in that service. In summary, the label of belonging to them means not that much in reality - rather one should look at length of service, age of entry and any subsequent / previous activities when they leave. (basically like any other cybersecurity job, really)
shmatt 5y ago
true, and 8200 is huge, being there doesn't mean much in terms of ability to remotely take over an iPhone The more accurate description is - these cyber weapon companies bring in the 22 year olds that were building cyber weapons in 8200 Its an elite group of a couple hundred at most. who are then snatched up for their existing knowledge, even if they can't figure out how to find new exploits

bjourne 5y ago

Companies hire people from government agencies for their connections. Government jobs doesn't pay a lot. Thus there is an implicit agreement that if a government employee awards contracts to a company they will eventually be "rewarded" by being hired into a good-paying job with that company. Repeat this process a few times and employees learn the process. You scratch our back and we scratch yours.