10 ms·

We hear a lot about how behind the rest of the world the US is in regards to cyber security (although maybe those claims are incorrect?) How many of you would

by blhack 13y ago

We hear a lot about how behind the rest of the world the US is in regards to cyber security (although maybe those claims are incorrect?) How many of you would go work for the defense department? What would it take for you to do that? Because the smartest people I know wouldn't do it for all of the money in the world. They won't even take defense department grants for our hackerspace (to buy tools, etc.) I really think that the US Justice Department's treatment of "hackers" over the last 20-30 years has completely soiled any possibility that the government has of attracting talent. Maybe I'm wrong, but at least in my bubble, nobody wants to work for the government, and no reasonable amount of money would change their mind.

cobrausn 13y ago
Having met quite a few brilliant minds who worked for NASA, Raytheon, and other defense contractors, including a few women who do work like writing missile guidance code, I think your bubble is clouding your view on this one.
- dclusin 13y ago
  Seconded. Some of the smartest people I had the pleasure of working alongside of in University towards our respective degrees went on to work for either the NSA or one of the various defense contractors.
brigade 13y ago
Grow up / go to school in Maryland or Virginia (probably most of Pennsylvania and New England too.) Personal experience suggests that most of the brightest CS/CE/EE/math majors there wind up either in three-letter agencies or (more likely) doing similar work as defense contractors. I probably would have wound up as a defense contractor too, had the companies I applied to not been strict on their GPA requirements (or if I had taken college more seriously...) A large reason is because these defense jobs are among the most interesting jobs in the area, and there's always openings. If your bubble is California, Texas, or New York, I'd imagine there's a significantly wider range of interesting non-defense jobs. Speaking as a programmer, that is.
- meej 13y ago
  more anecdata: I attended a small engineering college in the Great Plains. A good number of my classmates ended up at defense contractors after graduation. I did a co-op at a company that does a lot of defense contracting, and I could have accepted a FT position at one, too. I also have vivid memories of the career fair I attended during the fall of my junior year. I had dyed my hair green at the start of the semester. The only organization who seemed to take me seriously as a candidate was the NSA and I think the haircolor had something to do with that. It was enough to get me to apply for a summer internship there.
- rdouble 13y ago
  Even in California, the defense sector employs tons of engineers, especially in San Diego. In states like Arizona, Raytheon and SAIC are the only places an engineer can get a job.
atonse 13y ago
The NSA still employs some of the smartest linguists, mathematicians, and computer scientists in the world. You don't have to go too far to see things like Stuxnet which were using techniques so advanced, that it amazed a lot of the best 'open' security researchers around the world.
snowwrestler 13y ago
Do we hear a lot about that? I don't have that impression at all. I think that many U.S. corporate networks are not sufficiently secure against dedicated, highly trained intruders like the Chinese military, but the NSA and other federal intelligence organizations are perceived as being overall very competent.
ryguytilidie 13y ago
This is a super west coast view. MIT/Virginia Tech/and many other east coast technical schools send people to the DoD in droves.
- bane 13y ago
  Wasn't SV and Stanford etc. all major products of the growth of the DoD?
pessimizer 13y ago
I've met and known people who would love to help the NSA data mine all US communications. I've even known people who would love to help the NSA store all US communications, and help keep the latency low. By this, I mean that jobs like that would be the perfect, ideal job for some people; they would love it every day, and never leave. Your experience may be more due to your mix of friends, or where you live, rather than your profession.

by blhack 13y ago

cobrausn 13y ago

Having met quite a few brilliant minds who worked for NASA, Raytheon, and other defense contractors, including a few women who do work like writing missile guidance code, I think your bubble is clouding your view on this one.

dclusin 13y ago
Seconded. Some of the smartest people I had the pleasure of working alongside of in University towards our respective degrees went on to work for either the NSA or one of the various defense contractors.

brigade 13y ago

Grow up / go to school in Maryland or Virginia (probably most of Pennsylvania and New England too.) Personal experience suggests that most of the brightest CS/CE/EE/math majors there wind up either in three-letter agencies or (more likely) doing similar work as defense contractors. I probably would have wound up as a defense contractor too, had the companies I applied to not been strict on their GPA requirements (or if I had taken college more seriously...) A large reason is because these defense jobs are among the most interesting jobs in the area, and there's always openings. If your bubble is California, Texas, or New York, I'd imagine there's a significantly wider range of interesting non-defense jobs. Speaking as a programmer, that is.

meej 13y ago
more anecdata: I attended a small engineering college in the Great Plains. A good number of my classmates ended up at defense contractors after graduation. I did a co-op at a company that does a lot of defense contracting, and I could have accepted a FT position at one, too. I also have vivid memories of the career fair I attended during the fall of my junior year. I had dyed my hair green at the start of the semester. The only organization who seemed to take me seriously as a candidate was the NSA and I think the haircolor had something to do with that. It was enough to get me to apply for a summer internship there.
rdouble 13y ago
Even in California, the defense sector employs tons of engineers, especially in San Diego. In states like Arizona, Raytheon and SAIC are the only places an engineer can get a job.

atonse 13y ago

The NSA still employs some of the smartest linguists, mathematicians, and computer scientists in the world. You don't have to go too far to see things like Stuxnet which were using techniques so advanced, that it amazed a lot of the best 'open' security researchers around the world.

snowwrestler 13y ago

Do we hear a lot about that? I don't have that impression at all. I think that many U.S. corporate networks are not sufficiently secure against dedicated, highly trained intruders like the Chinese military, but the NSA and other federal intelligence organizations are perceived as being overall very competent.

ryguytilidie 13y ago

This is a super west coast view. MIT/Virginia Tech/and many other east coast technical schools send people to the DoD in droves.

bane 13y ago
Wasn't SV and Stanford etc. all major products of the growth of the DoD?

pessimizer 13y ago

I've met and known people who would love to help the NSA data mine all US communications. I've even known people who would love to help the NSA store all US communications, and help keep the latency low. By this, I mean that jobs like that would be the perfect, ideal job for some people; they would love it every day, and never leave. Your experience may be more due to your mix of friends, or where you live, rather than your profession.