Even without the leverage, I think that former teenage hackers turned pentesters or three-letter-agency adjuncts are hired for specific skills on the understand

Even without the leverage, I think that former teenage hackers turned pentesters or three-letter-agency adjuncts are hired for specific skills on the understanding they're being watched and they're probably not getting access to much more than a sandbox or adversary data and the money and freedom's all in scrupulously obeying the rules That feels a little different to hiring people with cracking credentials for auditing jobs, giving them full access to extensive government records (and possibly the right to backdoor them) in a move fast break things environment on the understanding that they're probably above the law and they're less likely to be punished than anyone barring their way. I doubt the success rate of converting teenage tearaways to scrupulous white hats in boring businesses is 100% either....