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Maybe the security community could have a discussion about whether it's time to start shaming people like TheGrugq. The people who are working for the NSA are

Maybe the security community could have a discussion about whether it's time to start shaming people like TheGrugq. The people who are working for the NSA are people in the security community. You can see it in the phrasing on some of the material that's been release (WIN! stood out to me w/r/t one of the previously released docs regarding some MITM scenario). Obviously there are some very smart people in the community who are working as contractors for the government. Ostensibly this community has had a rich tradition of civil liberties, and the current generation is now selling them out for as much money as they can at the fastest rate possible. Two years ago, we had people like Charlie Miller saying "No more free bugs." Look where we are today and ask yourself if Charlie has ever had any ideals outside of looking out for number one. I am turning sour on the security community.

abraxasz 13y ago
"ask yourself if Charlie has ever had any ideals outside of looking out for number one." Problem is, if he doesn't, who will? I think that one thing that might have changed in our generation, is that we have the distinct impression that nobody has our back. I'm not saying that politics are more messed up than they used to be, it's just more blatant. Nobody gives a fuck that people are dying in the streets, that we're invading countries to enrich defense contractors, and that we're bankrupting our own country just "because we won't be disrespected". So one guy decides that, fuck it, he has one life, and he'll have his fun. You may call this guy coward, selfish, anything. And maybe you're right. My guts agree with you. My head tells me he's on to something.
- eli_gottlieb 13y ago
  And my head tells me that if you think defecting on a Prisoner's Dilemma at the national scale is "smart", our civilization is dying.
  - abraxasz 13y ago
    I like the analogy with the prisoner's dilemma, although I think the situation is slightly different. It'd be like playing the game against someone who's repeatedly shown that he'll betray you whenever possible. The optimal strategy in that case is not cooperation. As for the civilization is dying thing, I'm not prescient, so I can't give a clever answer. But even if it is so, that has no impact on what the optimal behavior is for someone purely selfish. Like good king Louis XV used to say, while bankrupting the kingdom of France: "After Me, the Flood".

abraxasz 13y ago

"ask yourself if Charlie has ever had any ideals outside of looking out for number one." Problem is, if he doesn't, who will? I think that one thing that might have changed in our generation, is that we have the distinct impression that nobody has our back. I'm not saying that politics are more messed up than they used to be, it's just more blatant. Nobody gives a fuck that people are dying in the streets, that we're invading countries to enrich defense contractors, and that we're bankrupting our own country just "because we won't be disrespected". So one guy decides that, fuck it, he has one life, and he'll have his fun. You may call this guy coward, selfish, anything. And maybe you're right. My guts agree with you. My head tells me he's on to something.

eli_gottlieb 13y ago
And my head tells me that if you think defecting on a Prisoner's Dilemma at the national scale is "smart", our civilization is dying.
- abraxasz 13y ago
  I like the analogy with the prisoner's dilemma, although I think the situation is slightly different. It'd be like playing the game against someone who's repeatedly shown that he'll betray you whenever possible. The optimal strategy in that case is not cooperation. As for the civilization is dying thing, I'm not prescient, so I can't give a clever answer. But even if it is so, that has no impact on what the optimal behavior is for someone purely selfish. Like good king Louis XV used to say, while bankrupting the kingdom of France: "After Me, the Flood".