The FBI Wants To Hire Young Tech Savants, Has No Idea How To Attract Them

from the nearly-a-half-century-of-image-problems-not-helping dept

Thu, Sep 8th 2016 10:48am — Tim Cushing

The FBI is suffering from an image problem. Its boss has spent a great deal of time arguing against protecting phone owners from thieves and malicious hackers. Its anti-terrorism program seems to be focused on pushing vulnerable people into doing things they'd never do on their own. And it has, along with the NSA, seen whatever street cred it might have had stripped away by leaked documents, litigation, and the realization that all Americans and their rights are subject to the agency's chants of "national security."

In order for an agency to keep up with the hacking Joneses, it needs periodic injections of new blood. The problem is, the only decently-skilled hackers the FBI can apparently press into service are those it's arrested. It's having a difficult time attracting new hires that honestly want to use their skills in the ways the FBI would like to deploy them.

So, the FBI is trying to alter its stance on hiring, as well as the public's perception of the agency. And, of course, it's failing to do so because it's allowing Jim "Nerd Harder" Comey to act as spokesperson for the FBI's youth movement. After being informed by his daughter that the FBI = "The Man," Comey is using this dad anecdote to lead into a series of dad jokes that seem better suited for attracting people like him, rather than the people his agency actually needs.

His daughter was right, he said. But the agency is trying to get more hip to attract recruits who will help the agency keep pace with a digital landscape in constant flux, according to Comey.

"We’re working very hard inside the FBI to be a whole lot cooler than you may think we are," he said during his remarks at a Symantec Government Symposium this week.

The agency hasn't added "beanbags and granola and a lot of whiteboards" — stereotypical hallmarks of West Coast start-up culture — at least not yet, Comey said.

And much dad LOL-ing ensued. Comey's joke doesn't work -- at least not in terms of convincing people the agency is "hip" enough for youngsters -- because it relies heavily on an out-of-touch person's stereotype of what a "hip" tech company's campus might look like. The fact that the agency already doesn't use "a lot of whiteboards" suggests it is more than just a few years removed from hipness. It suggests the agency is several decades behind, presumably relying on overhead projectors and chalkboards to present info to agents.

While the FBI has occasionally discussed relaxing hiring standards in order to attract fresh blood, it will never relax them to the point needed. The FBI wants young hackers to help develop its tech tools, but it expects them to have the same sort of background as its field agents: free from drug use, criminal activity, and presumably interested in pursuing a degree in criminal law during their spare time.

If the FBI can't find the hires it needs, it will continue to slide into tech irrelevance. But it created this downhill slope itself. It's going to be impossible to attract new talent when the unspoken part of Comey's pitch is that this talent will be used to punch holes in encryption and strip internet users of their anonymity. It's "us vs. them" all over again, but Comey thinks he can get hackers to switch sides by promising them beanbags and granola at some point in the future.

The problem is that Comey appears to be relying on jingoism and patriotism to make up for the concessions he's unwilling to make. But it's been a long time since younger generations felt a moral obligation to serve their country -- something that headed downhill quickly with the Vietnam War draft and the War on Drugs that followed shortly thereafter. Around this same time, the FBI's dirty laundry was being aired, showing it routinely engaged in pervasive surveillance and civil rights violations by targeting anyone who wasn't a straight, white, Protestant male who routinely voted Republican.

Comey isn't just working against recent revelations. He's working against more than 40 years of "The Man" viewing younger generations and countercultural activity as threats or investigative targets, rather than just healthy parts of a nation that will always be engaged in growing pains.

It's not even clear that Comey actually wants to make the FBI more attractive to the tech talent it needs. It looks more as though he just wants to give that impression, rather than make the sort of necessary cultural changes within his agency that might actually attract private sector talent. If they're ever going to buy in, the public needs to see actions, rather than more words. The FBI wants top tech talent, but so far, it's only willing to send out its worst possible selection for "Youth Ambassador" to spread the word.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: coders, encryption, fbi, going dark, tech

67 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Anonymous Coward, 8 Sep 2016 @ 10:56am

He's hoping to attract patriots, except the real patriots are the ones unwilling to help the FBI violate the Constitution and civil liberties at every opportunity.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Sep 2016 @ 11:20am

Proven Resourcing Strategies
If the FBI can't find the hires it needs…
If FBI's resourcing specialists can't get enough H1Bs in, well, then obviously they should just move the whole operation to Bangalore.

Why isn't this plain as day? No out-of-box thinking required here.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
DannyB (profile), 8 Sep 2016 @ 11:21am

The FBI and other TLAs brought this on
It's way too late for talking or speeches to fix it. And bean bag chairs are just insulting. The young people the FBI wants to hire are likely not even viewed by the FBI as being professionals.

The very people they want to attract are against violating the constitution and turning the US into a police state. It's not a secret that the FBI and other TLAs objectives are not the same.

These young professionals are likely to be deeply against the FBI's actions. The mention of the name Aaron Swartz conjures up memories of the FBI's role in that.

Finally it is insulting to professional people to ask the impossible, of following contradictory goals and doing the impossible. Assignment: create a secure system that is insecure when we want it to be, but where the security can never be compromised. Good luck with such an assignment! And if you don't believe in this magical fairy dust you are un-American and not patriotic.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Sep 2016 @ 11:24am

Maybe they can use threats of CFAA prosecution to blackmail people into working for them.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Sep 2016 @ 11:33am

Re:
Then they would get back-doors into systems, their own that is.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hey Herc!, 8 Sep 2016 @ 11:33am

There is a way
Just administer the test for anti-social personality disorder test and those that are you offer to pay all their training and give them a job for life, or fund their surveillance company.. I thought that's what they had been doing since the mid 90's already, you can't explain the DARPA funding for the tech sector any other way
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hey Herc!, 8 Sep 2016 @ 11:36am

Poindexter in the 90's
Does no one remember how much he was complaining that all the NSA had to run where those pokey CRAY 2's?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Median Wilfred, 8 Sep 2016 @ 11:37am

FBI has always projected tech incompetence
Back in the day, 1995-96 or so, the FBI's first web site was hosted on a NASA (space program, not spy program) computer, because all the FBI had was IBM mainframes, and they didn't do TCP/IP at all reliably back then.

However, you have to wonder. Given the FBI's Hoover DNA, maybe they're bluffing, faking it, like Unit 2702 in The Cryptonomicon. I know, never assume malice where incompetence can explain, and there's plenty of incompetence to go around, but still... the FBI lies, or at least tells the least untruthful story.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Sep 2016 @ 11:40am

bell bottoms, man. bell bottoms.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Michael, 8 Sep 2016 @ 11:41am

Re: Poindexter in the 90's
That's cray-cray
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hey Herc!, 8 Sep 2016 @ 11:44am

Re: FBI has always projected tech incompetence
I think that "...never assume malice where incompetence can explain..." has been flipped on it's head since Bush
[ link to this | view in thread ]
I.T. Guy, 8 Sep 2016 @ 11:44am

C'mon guys... don't you know all the hip kids these days hang out at the Symantec Government Symposium.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Sep 2016 @ 11:45am

Re:
No no no!

REAL Patriots are willing to DESTROY the constitution in order to SAVE the constitution!

And War is peace!

Also, in America we destroyed the Village in order to save the village!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hey Herc!, 8 Sep 2016 @ 11:47am

Re: bell bottoms
Watch all watched over by machines of love and grace, you will then understand how the current digital disaster we face really is the fault of hippies
[ link to this | view in thread ]
SirWired, 8 Sep 2016 @ 11:52am

Re: Proven Resourcing Strategies
If FBI's resourcing specialists can't get enough H1Bs in, well, then obviously they should just move the whole operation to Bangalore.

Government employees cannot, by definition, be H1-B holders. They must at least be green card holders. (This applies to any government agency, no matter what they do.) I'm pretty sure most governments worldwide have such a requirement.

(And contracting won't work either; you can contract out IT work, but for actual law enforcement, most jobs are considered "inherently governmental" and must be filled by actual government employees. The same is true for jobs involving policy, budget, etc.)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hey Herc!, 8 Sep 2016 @ 11:55am

They must be doing something wrong
as far as I can tell the attack tools are plug and play, you don't need much more knowledge than writing this post(as I told a friend once that knew nothing of computers and wanted to get a 1st level support job.. learn the language all else can come latter.) you don't need hackers so much as the busy body down the street.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Disgusted But Hopeful, 8 Sep 2016 @ 11:59am

Really??
.GOV is so far from where they should be that they risk average citizens, normal companies, and juries refusing to do their dirty work for them.

How many (companies) say "Get a warrant" who are not legally obliged to provide information under penalty of law now, let alone in a year or two.

How many Jurors, more than I hope for I suspect, refuse to convict in Federal Court, how many will there be in a year or two? More I hope when government over-reach and overcharging seems clear.

.GOV requires the consent of the governed. It is up to us to stop them when they must be stopped.

Don't be stooped, vote your conscience, at work, in the jury room, and the polls.

refuse to obey
[ link to this | view in thread ]
David, 8 Sep 2016 @ 12:03pm

Tech savants are tricky...
Those tend to be pretty good at figuring out computer programs and the meaning of instructions. So they are more likely than many other people to figure out that their work is in conflict with the highest law of the land and they are career criminals.

Now make no mistake: if they chose to be a career criminal, they can work in a consistent frame. But the FBI constantly pretends to perform legalized operations, and the obvious mismatch is just going to be dissatisfactory.

Also, bona fide career criminals tend to get better pay.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hey Herc!, 8 Sep 2016 @ 12:06pm

Re: Tech savants are tricky...
Steve Jobs!=Wozniak
[ link to this | view in thread ]
SpaceLifeForm, 8 Sep 2016 @ 12:26pm

Chalkboards probably green
And they probably still
use mimeograph.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
That One Guy (profile), 8 Sep 2016 @ 12:51pm

"Have you tried NOT being utterly contemptuous of the public and it's rights and safety?"
The FBI wants young hackers to help develop its tech tools, but it expects them to have the same sort of background as its field agents: free from drug use, criminal activity, and presumably interested in pursuing a degree in criminal law during their spare time.

The 'problem' the FBI faces is that they've essentially got two groups, both of them with problems.

White Hats

This groups has the desired skills and the clean criminal record, but they are also the most likely to object to the FBI's tactics and stances towards the public. Convincing anyone from this group that the decades of hostility towards the public the FBI has and continues to display is just a 'minor misunderstanding' is going to be an uphill battle to put it lightly.

Black Hats

This group has the skills the FBI is looking for along with the contempt for the public and/or the ability to not care what happens to the public so long as the FBI's short-term goals are met, but they are also likely to have a criminal record disqualifying them from working at the FBI(which is weird really, with how the FBI operates you think they'd want people with career criminal mindsets).

The people with the skills and clean records aren't likely to want to work with/for the FBI due to their incredibly toxic image, well earned over the course of the agency's history, while those that have the skills and are willing to overlook said history are also likely to have criminal records that disqualify them from being hired.

The FBI has a problem alright, and it's entirely it's own fault.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Personanongrata, 8 Sep 2016 @ 1:03pm

Shut it Down!
The FBI Wants To Hire Young Tech Savants, Has No Idea How To Attract Them

The problem FBI has with wanting to hire young tech savants is they are capable of seeing through the tissue paper thin lies J Edgar Comey and his predecessors dispense on a daily basis.

Once you get past the window dressing facade employed as cover by political hacks and government propagandists FBI has absolutely nothing to do with liberty and justice.

FBI's entire raison d'etre since it's inception in 1908 is defending the status quo at all costs.

If young tech savants are really interested in helping American's cast off the repressive/criminal/unconstitutional yoke of the US government they would work to shut down and expose the unaccountable tyrants infesting the Capitol.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Christenson, 8 Sep 2016 @ 1:04pm

Growing up...
When ya gonna grow up, Mr Comey???

All the white hats are waiting.....
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hey Herc!, 8 Sep 2016 @ 1:06pm

Re: "Have you tried NOT being utterly contemptuous of the public and it's rights and safety?"
Your wrong in the sense that there are no real white hats anymore, at best they are grey,but the days of announcing vulnerabilities and providing a "fix" route around are gone, because people are afraid of being charged with CFAA violations so the amount of information to average users is zero, no skill increase and lots of opportunity for state and allied actors to compromise peoples machines, and there isn't even any money in it, bug bounties are keep quite money when they aren't backed up by federal criminal chargers

Anonymous is the closest thing to white hats and that is pretty questionable.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
TRX (profile), 8 Sep 2016 @ 1:09pm

At least the FBI is trying.

They could just outsource IT work to Booz Allen Hamilton like the NSA does...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Sep 2016 @ 1:23pm

Response to: Anonymous Coward on Sep 8th, 2016 @ 11:24am
I wouldn't put it pass them. "Ends justify the means" seems to be thier motto these days.
If it works in movies why wouldn't it work in reality?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
DannyB (profile), 8 Sep 2016 @ 1:29pm

Re: Re:
We want peace, at ANY cost. Even if we have to nuke the whole world to get it.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hey Herc!, 8 Sep 2016 @ 1:30pm

Re: I'd go work for them
except it would have to be in the contract I would not have to violate the constitution or harm innocent people and they could not live up to that.

so they can never hire anyone that is ethical.. it's gonna be and is already an "Interesting time" stupid Chinese better than Nostradamus.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Groaker (profile), 8 Sep 2016 @ 1:31pm

Re: Re: Proven Resourcing Strategies
Are you really talking about legal limits on H1B and green card holders holders in working for the FBI?

The FBI clearly has no legal limits -- they can do as they please, and generally do.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Sep 2016 @ 1:32pm

Re:
They could just outsource IT work to Booz Allen Hamilton like the NSA does
Janet Napolitano is now generating private-sector IT innovation within the California state government system.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
DannyB (profile), 8 Sep 2016 @ 1:34pm

Re: Tech savants are tricky...
So the FBI wants a Snowden who is not a Snowden.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Jordan Chandler, 8 Sep 2016 @ 1:39pm

Drug Testing
Until the government and businesses stop drug testing for things like MJ they're not going to get any good applicants.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
DannyB (profile), 8 Sep 2016 @ 1:39pm

Re:
Do you suppose that Booz Allen Hamilton now actively screens for people would recognize that their job is in conflict with the US Constitution.

Booz Allen probably got a black eye over Snowden.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
That One Guy (profile), 8 Sep 2016 @ 1:51pm

Re: Drug Testing
Oh I dunno, I think it would be in their favor to test for drug use since you'd pretty much have to be on something to think that the FBI has the public's best interests in mind.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hey Herc!, 8 Sep 2016 @ 1:56pm

Re: Re: truncation madness
can we fix that mike I mean I wouldn't suggest that your raped and killed that girl in 1990 but what are you trying to hide but truncating subject lines?

in any case Booz Allen didn't get even a reprimand, they are still one of the biggest contractors , like black water or bandi bush when you know the people at the top you will never be held accountable.

Real life is just like high school.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hey Herc!, 8 Sep 2016 @ 2:00pm

Re: Re: Tech savants are tricky...
no the fbi wants people that are like steve jobs, they know what side there butter is on, see also facebook, amazon google all of these companies got DARPA money there are no accidence in the way this played out.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Sep 2016 @ 2:15pm

Re: Re: Re: Tech savants are tricky...
Steve Jobs, and Bill Gates for that matter, were much better business men that they were technical genius. The people you really wanted were Steve Wozniac and Paul Allen,who were the technical people.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Padpaw (profile), 8 Sep 2016 @ 2:22pm

They could always do their tried and true method for getting informants. threaten to kill them and make their lives a living hell until they agree to work for the FBI
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Sep 2016 @ 2:34pm

Re: Re: Re: Tech savants are tricky...
… the fbi wants people that are like steve jobs…
So they really want hyper-secretive vegans clad in black turtleneck sweaters.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Seegras (profile), 8 Sep 2016 @ 2:41pm

Categorical imperative
The point being, to be on the moral high ground, it's not sufficient just to be on the "right side", but more importantly, you need to only use just means.

In other words, the END DOES NOT JUSTIFY THE MEANS. And within that framework, the FBI is right now, a band of bandits, criminals, and outlaws.

And you don't want to work for organized crime.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Sep 2016 @ 2:43pm

Re: Re: Re:
If you are willing to take options of the table to ensure peace, then you will never have peace because if you are looking at war, then someone cannot be reasoned with.

Pick your two most hated people in history an imagine that it was a world war with those two vs each other.

A nuked world shockingly looks like a good proposition.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Sep 2016 @ 2:53pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Pick your two most hated people in history an imagine that it was a world war with those two vs each other.
Hmmm... lesseee...
• Hitler vs Stalin?
• Larry Ellison vs ???? — Larry Ellison vs Larry Ellison?
That might be a hard choice there. Which matchup features the two most hated people in history?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Sep 2016 @ 3:14pm

Re: Re: Proven Resourcing Strategies
well some company from a signatory of the TPP will just have to sue over this as they are losing money by not being able to outsource the FBI... once it is law of course
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Sep 2016 @ 3:18pm

Re: "Have you tried NOT being utterly contemptuous of the public and it's rights and safety?"
They want career criminals who don't get caught. The problem is that a career criminal who would openly go work with them would get caught. And if they are a career criminal who doesn't get caught they can make more from their own nefarious schemes.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Sep 2016 @ 3:24pm

Re: Shut it Down!
"If young tech savants are really interested in helping American's cast off the repressive/criminal/unconstitutional yoke of the US government they would work to shut down and expose the unaccountable tyrants infesting the Capitol."

Whoo now. That is not what the FBI's politician overlords and their corporate masters want at all. But you, you're obviously some type of subversive that must be tracked and handled at all costs.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hey Herc!, 8 Sep 2016 @ 3:31pm

Re: Categorical imperative
People need to stop with this Fallacy there is no "right side" there is only right action, and that is always actions that are consistent with objectives, so if you want to know what people believe look at what they do.

This is why IP law is almost all nonsense.

Sticks and stones will break my bones.. there are real situations where power sociologically has real breaking bones effects and one of those is IP law it's harmful to real humans.

As to weather the ends justify the means, it always depends on what the ends are, and in this case it is harming the majority of people in arbitrary ways to benefit those that already have the most you know Communism American style.

--steal from the poor give to the rich, stupid bitch.
---denise moore
----denise moore.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hey Herc!, 8 Sep 2016 @ 3:34pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Tech savants are tricky...
Who control massive companies that invade peoples privacy for the convenience of the state?

Yes, Yes that is exactly the people they want.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hey Herc!, 8 Sep 2016 @ 3:40pm

Re: Re: "Have you tried NOT being utterly contemptuous of the public and it's rights and safety?"
Well they cannot be caught or at least held accountable if they are working for the state, and since there are many examples of exactly this happening and they are still having problems recruiting people, I'll go with the FBI is lying yet again
[ link to this | view in thread ]
art guerrilla (profile), 8 Sep 2016 @ 4:31pm

Re: Drug Testing
when i went through some background investigation/clearance bullshit to work on some gummint (theoretically) top-secret sites/jobs (which NEVER happened over the 4-5 years, we NEVER had to use the secret little faraday room with wiped computer, etc), just about EVERYONE selected for this work went to their boss, and said, 'um, uh, um, i might have, um, experimented, yeah, that's the ticket, experimented with some devil weed, um, a time or a thousand...'
(valid experimentation requires many trials !)
AND what, um, all these *other* people were told, was that as long as you admitted to _____ , and indicated it was past tense-ish, then it would not be a factor in being denied clearance... (i sure wasn't)
now, this was NOT for a direct gummint job, or the feebs, just a subcontractor; but not sure if the same might not apply to a some extent in the USG at large...
*kind of* the point is, if you have confessed or it is out in the open that you use(d) ______, then that supposedly inoculates you from being blackmailed by some nefarious third party who knows you use(d) _______...
of course, that is presuming a valid interest in any person's drug use, which i don't believe there is (aside from a few obvious exceptions, like airline pilots; in that case, i want to make sure my pilots ARE on cocaine, so i know they will have the alertness that is paramount in flying !)...
as a basic 'libertarian' belief: it is MY BODY, and I and I ALONE control it and what i want to put in it for whatever reasons i want, or no reason at all...
IF that were so (which it isn't, The State controls my body), then essentially there would be no 'illegal' substances/drugs... oops, there goes the stigma of illegality, jail, etc... oops, there goes the reason for many moral scolds to live in order to make others suffer by legislating morality... oops, there goes the unemployability of millions... oops, there goes the black market which undergirds the banksters with laundering drug monies...
ohhhhh...
ohhhhh, *now* i get why The They (tm) don't want it legalized...
huh...
that makes perverted sense...
The Bastards ! ! !
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hey Herc!, 8 Sep 2016 @ 4:43pm

Re: Re: Drug Testing
No amount of getting rid of drug testing gets rid of who the FBI or whatever agencies think are the problem, drug problems are routinely overlooked if your already in the in crowed.

The problem is none of these people know what "Outsiders" look like they keep thinking it's american citizens while ignoring Saudis, Afghanis, Chechens, turks and other radical islamist.

no amount of letting pot heads into that system will help, you cannot find the thing your looking for if you don't know what it is. sorry for enphesis PERIOD...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Sep 2016 @ 6:06pm

Re: Re: "Have you tried NOT being utterly contemptuous of the public and it's rights and safety?"
Anonymous? White hats? Really?

I'm not saying that Anonymous consists of primarily people with criminal records, but their gimmick is only doing things they find funny. Anonymous might not be a group of black hats, but it's sure as hell not white.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Sep 2016 @ 7:50pm

Dear FBI,

We really don't care how "cool" your institution is. We don't care if it's hip or trendy or whatever buzzword marketing came up with.

Don't hide behind closed walls and questionable tactics. Stop the sneaking, the lying and the stupidity. Stop trying to be an anti-terrorist agency (we have enough of those already) manufacturing plots and get back to real work.

Instead, perhaps try being "ethical". Or virtueous. Be open and honest.

Then maybe we'd work for you.
- Younger People
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 8 Sep 2016 @ 8:43pm

not a Snowden

what the nation needs is a whole bunch of snowdens joining up with the govt to keep an eye on those peckerheads before they ruin it for the rest of us.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 9 Sep 2016 @ 12:09am

Re:
Forcing people to work against their will? There's a name for that, and it's one of the great stains in America's history.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 9 Sep 2016 @ 12:18am

Re: Re: Re: "Have you tried NOT being utterly contemptuous of the public and it's rights and safety?"
Funny? Bullshit. There was nothing funny about Hal Turner or Habbo. Sarah Palin, ok yes.

Anyway, what's wrong with grey?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 9 Sep 2016 @ 12:21am

Fsociety. On a lighter note Oliver Stone has a Snowden movie coming soon to a theater near you. After the bureau ran a child porn site they lost all credibility with most of the people they might want to recruit. Maybe they can get some immigrants to do it.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 9 Sep 2016 @ 1:40am

Re: Re:
Atleast then they'll have a way in if they loose the key.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
That One Guy (profile), 9 Sep 2016 @ 3:12am

"The problem didn't exist until you told us about it!"
Yeah, it's truly a stunning bit of stupidity watching company after company crack down on those that try to inform them of security vulnerabilities, as though that's all it takes to prevent said vulnerabilities from being found.

With such a hostile reception towards white hats the black hats have free reign, and more and more the first time a company will learn about a vulnerability in their product/site/service is when someone uses it against them, instead of when some well meaning person finds it and tells them about it.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
That One Guy (profile), 9 Sep 2016 @ 5:08am

"We like 'em skilled but stupid."
He's basically looking for people smart enough to do the job, completely lacking in even the most basic knowledge of history regarding the job/agency, and obedient enough that they won't ask questions or actually think about what they're being asked to do, and/or what the people they work for are doing.

Knowledgeable in a very narrow way(just enough to do the job) but utterly lacking any form of curiosity or ability to think for themselves. Flexible and able to grow their skill-set to keep up with the adapting field they're hired for but obedient enough to never question or think about what they're told or the orders they're given.

And he wonders why they're having trouble finding people that are both qualified and willing to work for the agency...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 9 Sep 2016 @ 8:01pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: "Have you tried NOT being utterly contemptuous of the public and it's rights and safety?"
"for the lulz" is the primary motivation of Anonymous. There's nothing wrong with grey, but grey is most certainly not white. Expecting Anonymous to take the mantle of a cause you believe in is, to put it mildly, wishful thinking. How often have sentiments been expressed that Anonymous should take down the RIAA and organizations from the inside, and so forth? Yet, if you do actually post such things, you can expect a rebuttal on the lines of "Anonymous isn't your personal army".

Anonymous has exposed dirty rot before like Scientology, but it's more of a result from happy coincidence than intrinsic altruism.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 9 Sep 2016 @ 8:02pm

Re: Re: Re: "Have you tried NOT being utterly contemptuous of the public and it's rights and safety?"
You're assuming that the FBI and government isn't going to simply throw you under the bus, though.

And if the state can't be held accountable regardless of how heinous its acts are, why wouldn't they?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 11 Sep 2016 @ 3:01am

The FBI is the type of organization that would hire and train people then either trick them into becoming pseudoterrorists to bolster their 'solved cases' numbers, or they'd sue them for 'hacking' and other computer-whizz stuff.

Hell they even arrested some of their OWN staff for developing software for the FBI just so they wouldn't have to pay them...............
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 11 Sep 2016 @ 3:10am

Did anyone stop to think that the FBI hiring might be 100% fake? that all they want is a list of young people who consider themselves 'hackers' so they can monitor them?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 11 Sep 2016 @ 4:59am

Hip to Cool
He did progress from "hip" (before my time) to "cool" (Fonzie era). Maybe in a few years he will be discussing "awesome"!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Eldakka (profile), 11 Sep 2016 @ 5:28pm

Re: Re: Proven Resourcing Strategies
I doubt there's any such restriction on CIs, so put them all on the books as CI's.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
When Pigs FLY, 12 Sep 2016 @ 1:04am

There are plenty of qualified candidates in repressive, totalitarian, communist or Isreali regimes who are already qualified to trample the US Contitution without concern for due process. Why doesn't Comey just admit he's one of them?

China is known for gang stalking people who make comments on Weibo, and sends 'the Great Cannon' after them. Israel has us all illegally hacked and compromised already (Thanks, NSA! And Dianne Frankenstein, et al) and Russia is only a threat to Hillary.

Or just plain outsourcing it would open a new dialogue with a pre-qualified candidate pool that Comey has worked so hard to outfiend.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
When Pigs FLY, 12 Sep 2016 @ 1:22am

Re:
My personal favorite part of that noble governmnt process called "organized gang stalking" where they try to 'turn' a person, was when I was subtly threatened on a blog that "well, you know, these guys can cause car accidents..."

Then, two months later, I get t-boned in an intersection, the car nearly ramming my two year old daughter.100% not my fault.

Yeah-but maybe what was even more cool, AND coincidental, and 'random', was that a Minneapolis police supervisor just 'happened'to be toodling by 30 seconds in.

He spent the whole time chatting up the woman who hit me, never once asked about my daughter. Not. Once. Repeat: that Minneapolis cop never once asked if my two year old daughter who just got t-boned at 25 mph by an SUV-that Minneapols cop never once asked if the child was injured.

And that noble specimen of the law was overheard by multiple witnesses telling that woman 'you'll need a GOOD lawyer for this. I can refer you.' He pent some 20 minutes at the scene, talked to us for less than 2 minutes.

Yup. They really do cause accidents, and ruin lives-or try to.
[ link to this | view in thread ]