4 ms·

Doesn't this approach seem kind of backwards though? For example, weed. If they want to prevent enemies from blackmailing their employees for past weed use. Th

by utnick 14y ago

Doesn't this approach seem kind of backwards though? For example, weed. If they want to prevent enemies from blackmailing their employees for past weed use. They should come out and say we don't care how much weed you smoke, we're not going to drug test you now or ever, we just don't care what you do in your free time. The fact that they polygraph & question you to find the exact # of times you have done drugs in the past opens the door to blackmail situations. Polygraphs are not perfect, I'm sure some people that work for the NSA claimed no drug use on the application when that was not the case or claimed to have done it a handful of times when they really did it a lot more. Now an enemy could blackmail those people because they would be afraid of losing their jobs if the truth came out.

maayank 14y ago
I don't know the specifics about the NSA (or about any other agency), but the whole "don't care much about past, caring about trust and transparency" is pretty standard security model in western governmental agencies. Notice that CURRENT illegal activities can be a source of blackmail - if I'd work for the NSA and run over someone with my car I wouldn't expect a three letter agency to come and make the charges disappear (and that's a good thing of course, we don't want an above-the-law military class). As I said, I don't know the specifics of the NSA (maybe they do or do not care about future light drug use) but I would expect them not wanting you to continue any illegal activities, to a reasonable degree (continue stealing the office toilet paper if it gives you kicks). Unless you're some sort of a world-level genius they would probably also shy away from evident extreme sociopathic behavior. From a reasonable human resources angle, not just security. Most of us wouldn't want to work with someone who released a worm that specifically targets thesis drafts for example. ANOTHER EDIT: I really think the #1 concern for applicable defcon recruits is "computer crimes", not drug use. Found/tested exploits? Use bittorrent? Cracked WinRAR (and hopefully something else that is more than simply changing a je to jne)? don't be afraid to send a CV and be honest. That is all.
Daniel_Newby 14y ago
> They should come out and say we don't care how much weed you smoke, we're not going to drug test you now or ever, we just don't care what you do in your free time. The threat is that a foreign nation will take over a DEA field office and blackmail you. "We can overlook the pot this time if you cooperate and wear this wire. Don't cooperate and we'll do an asset forfeiture on your house and report your kids to CPS for being homeless." In a few months you'll be doing dead drops for a Chinese handler and thinking you are doing the right thing for family and country. It is not about drugs but the abject corruption of the War on Drugs. Polygraph interviews are not anout ferreting out all secrets, they are about finding how hard it is to get secrets out of you.

by utnick 14y ago

maayank 14y ago

I don't know the specifics about the NSA (or about any other agency), but the whole "don't care much about past, caring about trust and transparency" is pretty standard security model in western governmental agencies. Notice that CURRENT illegal activities can be a source of blackmail - if I'd work for the NSA and run over someone with my car I wouldn't expect a three letter agency to come and make the charges disappear (and that's a good thing of course, we don't want an above-the-law military class). As I said, I don't know the specifics of the NSA (maybe they do or do not care about future light drug use) but I would expect them not wanting you to continue any illegal activities, to a reasonable degree (continue stealing the office toilet paper if it gives you kicks). Unless you're some sort of a world-level genius they would probably also shy away from evident extreme sociopathic behavior. From a reasonable human resources angle, not just security. Most of us wouldn't want to work with someone who released a worm that specifically targets thesis drafts for example. ANOTHER EDIT: I really think the #1 concern for applicable defcon recruits is "computer crimes", not drug use. Found/tested exploits? Use bittorrent? Cracked WinRAR (and hopefully something else that is more than simply changing a je to jne)? don't be afraid to send a CV and be honest. That is all.

Daniel_Newby 14y ago

> They should come out and say we don't care how much weed you smoke, we're not going to drug test you now or ever, we just don't care what you do in your free time. The threat is that a foreign nation will take over a DEA field office and blackmail you. "We can overlook the pot this time if you cooperate and wear this wire. Don't cooperate and we'll do an asset forfeiture on your house and report your kids to CPS for being homeless." In a few months you'll be doing dead drops for a Chinese handler and thinking you are doing the right thing for family and country. It is not about drugs but the abject corruption of the War on Drugs. Polygraph interviews are not anout ferreting out all secrets, they are about finding how hard it is to get secrets out of you.