3 ms·

any guesses for the state here?

by asadm 1y ago

duxup 1y ago
The article notes that the target's former employer makes hackng tools and they separated on bad terms. Seems like it easily could just be the target's former employer.
- iamnothere 1y ago
  I would be more surprised if these employers didn’t target their employees to prevent leaks of trade secrets, union activity, or other internal dissent. Having the power would be too tempting to resist, and besides, there is some degree of legitimate concern; it would be easy enough for rogue employees to sell exploits on the side for millions (there are plenty of buyers). Another reason not to work at places like this.
  - duxup 1y ago
    Yeah I think the sensibilities inside orgs like that filters out folks with some values and the result would be ... not a lot of trust.
  - bink 1y ago
    I'm not disagreeing with you, but doing so would open them up to criminal charges and liability. Rightly or wrongly, selling exploits is not illegal. Hacking your employees devices is.
    - iamnothere 1y ago
      True, but most governments probably aren’t interested in pressing charges against critical vendors, as long as the product is delivered.
arthurcolle 1y ago
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it's a state in the DMV.. L3Harris HQ is in Arlington if I'm not mistaken
tptacek 1y ago
If it's actually a state, it's unlikely to be a NATO or FVEY country, since L3Harris is one of the largest defense contractors in the world and most of those countries are customers. The piece is kind of all over the place but the vibe it lands on is that his work phone may have been owned up by his employers.
- zzrrt 1y ago
  > his work phone may have been owned up by his employers First line says "personal phone". I presume MDM on a work phone could do most of the things they'd be interested in, without the risk of setting off an alarm like this. Anyone have speculation about a reason for an employer to pwn a phone that's already on their MDM?
KoftaBob 1y ago
When it comes to state-sponsored cyber-spying like this, take your pick between USA, Israel, Russia, China.

any guesses for the state here?

by asadm 1y ago

any guesses for the state here?

The article notes that the target's former employer makes hackng tools and they separated on bad terms. Seems like it easily could just be the target's former employer.

iamnothere 1y ago
I would be more surprised if these employers didn’t target their employees to prevent leaks of trade secrets, union activity, or other internal dissent. Having the power would be too tempting to resist, and besides, there is some degree of legitimate concern; it would be easy enough for rogue employees to sell exploits on the side for millions (there are plenty of buyers). Another reason not to work at places like this.
- duxup 1y ago
  Yeah I think the sensibilities inside orgs like that filters out folks with some values and the result would be ... not a lot of trust.
- bink 1y ago
  I'm not disagreeing with you, but doing so would open them up to criminal charges and liability. Rightly or wrongly, selling exploits is not illegal. Hacking your employees devices is.
  - iamnothere 1y ago
    True, but most governments probably aren’t interested in pressing charges against critical vendors, as long as the product is delivered.

arthurcolle 1y ago

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it's a state in the DMV.. L3Harris HQ is in Arlington if I'm not mistaken

tptacek 1y ago

If it's actually a state, it's unlikely to be a NATO or FVEY country, since L3Harris is one of the largest defense contractors in the world and most of those countries are customers. The piece is kind of all over the place but the vibe it lands on is that his work phone may have been owned up by his employers.

zzrrt 1y ago
> his work phone may have been owned up by his employers First line says "personal phone". I presume MDM on a work phone could do most of the things they'd be interested in, without the risk of setting off an alarm like this. Anyone have speculation about a reason for an employer to pwn a phone that's already on their MDM?

KoftaBob 1y ago

When it comes to state-sponsored cyber-spying like this, take your pick between USA, Israel, Russia, China.