7 ms·

If this group can bribe insiders so easily, imagine what a state-level actor can do.

greggsy 5y ago
The threat of coercion or bribery by a state actor is absolutely real, and has already played out in the past month. The threat of wilful cooperation by sympathetic employees with loyal ties to their homeland has also been a widely covered in several Chinese cases, less so by Russia. This isn’t isolated to those countries either - it’s almost certainly being done by the west too.
- hoseja 5y ago
  You don't see many western nationals embedded in critical Chinese infrastructure. Not a very multicultural society, them.
paxys 5y ago
> imagine what a state-level actor can do More like, imagine what a state-level actor has done already. Heck they don't even need to carry out hacks of this nature. It would be trivial for a government to embed an agent at any tech company at a way higher level than customer support. Do people really think a top CS graduate recruited to a coveted intelligence role can't pass a FAANG interview?
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- Consultant32452 5y ago
  The H1-B program was practically designed to give foreign agents an easy way into our infrastructure. Think of our top political enemies and consider which direction the Visas go.
  - mrgill 5y ago
    Is India an enemy?
    - rbanffy 5y ago
      I don't think India would weaponize H1-B, but it wouldn't be beyond Russia or China. BTW, having sleeper agents deeply implanted in other countries is an insurance policy.
      - Consultant32452 5y ago
        China and Russia were the two countries I was primarily thinking of when I wrote that post. It's worth pointing out that in the international spy game your friends also spy on you. I feel confident India has agents in the US.
        rbanffy 5y ago
        They would be stupid if they didn’t. The US has a tendency to meddle in internal politics of other countries and having sleeper assets in sufficient numbers is a deterrent. Unfortunately, for these countries, H1Bs are very easy to locate.
- Maursault 5y ago
  > Do people really think a top CS graduate recruited to a coveted intelligence role can't pass a FAANG interview? There are no top CS grads working for any government, other than perhaps academy graduates, and then only temporarily. For a top CS grad, private sector salaries are 5-20x what government will pay, and if they are top CS grads, they'll be smart enough to do the math.
forum_ghost 5y ago
own all the physical infrastructure, including your cellphone, your computers, your watch, your car, all monitored and owned 24/7?
rudasn 5y ago
Have you heard about Snowden? No imagination required.
- pelagicAustral 5y ago
  Is the implication here that Snowden got bought by the Russians? That didnt happened, right? Right?

The threat of coercion or bribery by a state actor is absolutely real, and has already played out in the past month. The threat of wilful cooperation by sympathetic employees with loyal ties to their homeland has also been a widely covered in several Chinese cases, less so by Russia. This isn’t isolated to those countries either - it’s almost certainly being done by the west too.

hoseja 5y ago
You don't see many western nationals embedded in critical Chinese infrastructure. Not a very multicultural society, them.

paxys 5y ago

> imagine what a state-level actor can do More like, imagine what a state-level actor has done already. Heck they don't even need to carry out hacks of this nature. It would be trivial for a government to embed an agent at any tech company at a way higher level than customer support. Do people really think a top CS graduate recruited to a coveted intelligence role can't pass a FAANG interview?

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
Consultant32452 5y ago
The H1-B program was practically designed to give foreign agents an easy way into our infrastructure. Think of our top political enemies and consider which direction the Visas go.
- mrgill 5y ago
  Is India an enemy?
  - rbanffy 5y ago
    I don't think India would weaponize H1-B, but it wouldn't be beyond Russia or China. BTW, having sleeper agents deeply implanted in other countries is an insurance policy.
    - Consultant32452 5y ago
      China and Russia were the two countries I was primarily thinking of when I wrote that post. It's worth pointing out that in the international spy game your friends also spy on you. I feel confident India has agents in the US.
      - rbanffy 5y ago
        They would be stupid if they didn’t. The US has a tendency to meddle in internal politics of other countries and having sleeper assets in sufficient numbers is a deterrent. Unfortunately, for these countries, H1Bs are very easy to locate.
Maursault 5y ago
> Do people really think a top CS graduate recruited to a coveted intelligence role can't pass a FAANG interview? There are no top CS grads working for any government, other than perhaps academy graduates, and then only temporarily. For a top CS grad, private sector salaries are 5-20x what government will pay, and if they are top CS grads, they'll be smart enough to do the math.

forum_ghost 5y ago

own all the physical infrastructure, including your cellphone, your computers, your watch, your car, all monitored and owned 24/7?

rudasn 5y ago

Have you heard about Snowden? No imagination required.

pelagicAustral 5y ago
Is the implication here that Snowden got bought by the Russians? That didnt happened, right? Right?