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Living Room / US Government War On Hackers Backfires
« Last post by wraith808 on August 08, 2013, 07:20 AM »US Government War On Hackers Backfires: Now Top Hackers Won't Work With US Government
from the what-did-they-expect? dept at techdirt in an act of sudo karma
(more at link)
But if history is any indication, if they can't pay them well enough to recruit them, then they'll start forcing them to through aggressive legal tactics.
from the what-did-they-expect? dept at techdirt in an act of sudo karma
But as this Reuters story reports, that crass attempt to intimidate an entire community in case anyone there might use computers to embarrass the US government or reveal its wrongdoings is now starting to backfire:
The U.S. government's efforts to recruit talented hackers could suffer from the recent revelations about its vast domestic surveillance programs, as many private researchers express disillusionment with the National Security Agency.
Though hackers tend to be anti-establishment by nature, the NSA and other intelligence agencies had made major inroads in recent years in hiring some of the best and brightest, and paying for information on software flaws that help them gain access to target computers and phones.
Much of that goodwill has been erased after the NSA's classified programs to monitor phone records and Internet activity were exposed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, according to prominent hackers and cyber experts.
The article goes on:
Closest to home for many hackers are the government's aggressive prosecutions under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which has been used against Internet activist Aaron Swartz, who committed suicide in January, and U.S. soldier Bradley Manning, who leaked classified files to anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.
A letter circulating at Def Con and signed by some of the most prominent academics in computer security said the law was chilling research in the public interest by allowing prosecutors and victim companies to argue that violations of electronic "terms of service" constitute unauthorized intrusions.
(more at link)
But if history is any indication, if they can't pay them well enough to recruit them, then they'll start forcing them to through aggressive legal tactics.
He might also be a good source for another review.
