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Especially that a normal vulnerability is exploitable by anybody who finds it. The state actor had then two choices when finding one, keeping it secret at the
by realusername 3y ago
Especially that a normal vulnerability is exploitable by anybody who finds it.
The state actor had then two choices when finding one, keeping it secret at the cost of leaving a lot of their own computers vulnerable or disclosing it but they cannot use it anymore.
Backdoors on the other hand can be made reasonably locked to keep it to themselves, like the one introduced in xz. They don't have this dilemma.
- voakbasda 3y agoThat’s a false dichotomy. Once a vulnerability is found (or manufactured), the attacker can patch their own systems while continuing to exploit other vulnerable systems.
- dist-epoch 3y agoTheir own systems might be an entire country. You can't hide patching on that scale.
- realusername 3y agoHow many government departments you can realistically reach before it leaks out somewhere though?