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Imagine the reputation hit that would ensue should Alphabet/Google get known for bringing about a massive malware attack because someone snuck something through.

Perhaps you might argue the meaning of "massive" but it has already happened and there was almost no reputation hit.

Is the Tempest Attack still a thing these days?

In short, yes. Here[1] they extract AES-256 keys in minutes or seconds (depending on distance) with inexpensive equipment.

From the paper:

Using improved antenna and signal processing, Fox-IT and Riscure show how to covertly recover the encryption key from two realistic AES-256 implementations while:
1. Attacking at a distance of up to 1 m (30 cm in realistic conditions; "TEMPEST"),
2. Using minimal equipment (fits in a jacket pocket, costs less than [EUR] 200) and
3. Needing only a few minutes (5 minutes for 1 m and 50 seconds for 30 cm).

The specific target is a Cortex-M3 processor.

[1]: https://www.fox-it.com/nl/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/Tempest_attacks_against_AES.pdf

"the attackers used the program RDPdoor for remote access to the bank network and the program “MBR Eraser” to remove traces and to crack Windows computers and servers .. The software called “Mimikatz” is built in this program. This is an open source software that allows to obtain passwords of user accounts logged in the Windows system. link

Really? I don't support the move at all.

Read any security whitepaper on drive by malware installation through ad-hijacking to understand why this is a horrible idea.

Here's one to get you started: http://blog.fox-it.com/2014/08...

Yes, I do. A highly-trusted company like this Dutch one, recognized as an European market-leader in IT security would immediately employ him, I happen to know. So would my former employer here in Vienna, I am nearly certain. I understand your misgivings, and your point about "ethics of this profession" is partly made. Yet we have entered a new era where "ethics of a profession" are subordinate to "the interest of the general public".

I'm Top-post whoring because all of the comments in this discussion are political, being pro/anti-Assange.

One technical problem I want to point out is that Wikileaks describes FOXIT as one of the offending companies. I thought, "Oh no, my PDF reader is sending all of my data to big brother! Even though the link on the site is spelled "FOXIT," the link should be spelled "Fox-IT, and it didn't help that the link at the time didn't even work.

Short version: don't confuse Foxit with FOX-IT!

-- Ethanol-fueled

Differences in code between OpenVPN and OpenVPN-NL. (credits: Palatinux) openvpn_nl-v2.1.4-diffpatch.txt

About why the chose to use PolarSSL:
Among the notable differences between OpenVPN and OpenVPN-NL is the cryptographic library. Correct SSL functionality is essential for the protection that OpenVPN offers. OpenSSL is a large and complex library. PolarSSL is a compact and modular library, which is small enough for a fairly in-depth evaluation. Therefore, in the OpenVPN-NL package, it has been chosen to exchange PolarSSL for OpenSSL. This change does not change functionality; the two libraries (OpenSSL and PolarSSL) are mutually compatible.
source: background OpenVPN
But as being said in another comment, someone now working for Fox-IT was involved in PolarSSL. Extra functionality and documentation was added to PolarSSL by Fox-IT according to a comment on a tech-site (tweakers.net) by someone who claims to be the maintainer of PolarSSL.