Pentagon Contractors Openly Post Job Listings For Offensive Hackers

Sparrowvsrevolution writes "In the wake of confirmation that the U.S. government was involved in the creation of Stuxnet and likely Flame, a look over job listings on defense contractor sites shows just how explicitly the Pentagon and the firms that service it are recruiting offense-oriented hackers. Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, SAIC, and Booz Allen have all posted job ads that require skills like 'exploit development,' have titles like 'Windows Attack Developer,' or asks them to 'plan, execute, and assess an Offensive Cyberspace Operation.'"

Comments

Department of Redundancy Department

[Tablizer]

So then, why don't we have a Department of Offense instead of just a Department of Defense? If the lie, I mean creative labeling works for DOD, why not use it for hacking titles also?

Also, I wonder if the inadvertent Stuxnet admission had anything to do with the change. Why mention such in job ads anyhow?

Re:Department of Redundancy Department

[bky1701]

Well, they can always claim they are good at defense, since we haven't been invaded in a long time. If you put war back in the name, people might start asking questions about why a department with "war" in the name utterly failed the last several we were in.

Not official

[cpu6502]

Quoting another slashdotter: "This is just a reporter's opinion sourced from conversations with people whose names he won't reveal at times he won't reveal..... he details the exact contents of a meeting that consisted of president Obama, vice president Biden, and CIA director Leon Panetta. For him to have this conversation, it means he has interviewed either the president, the vice president, or Panetta on this. Fat fucking chance. It's probably true, but no it's no way in hell close to "offical"."

Re:Microsoft must be so pleased....

[idontgno]

...the government is hiring people to exploit the weakensses I allow in my software with the intention of doing harm

FTFY. If Microsoft doesn't want Windows hacked, they only have to fix the damn thing.

I wonder if there's something in the Windows EULA that Microsoft should sue the government for violating.

There's this little EULA that says Microsoft can just suck it.

Clearance Interview

[dloolb]

I bet the clearance interviews are interesting and probably resemble a job interview. Have fun with the EQIP form!

Re:Windows Attack Developer - Wanted

[ackthpt]

Not really. The spooks want to attack the platform the enemy is using and will have high value in comprimising.

Linux and Mac computers don't manage the SCADA system in Iran's enrichment plants, nor do their military commanders, bureaucrats, and etc. use Linux or Mac computers on a day to day basis.

Both Linux and Mac OS have had their share of embarrassing exploits.

That's the point. If all these developers are going to hack for $$$, without risk of going to the pokey, that's that many less who will be sitting around hacking Mac or Linux. Besides, Stuxnet succeeded because idiotic Iran bought a load of commodity PCs all loaded up with Windows and didn't have a lick of sense to isolate them from the outside world. If they had any competency they'd stay away from commodity garbage and be using dedicated hardware with specifically coded firmware, for the job, not a load of boxes which can run office, games, web browsers, play music or video, etc, on something as critical as a Nuclear Centrifuge .. geez, that's just amazing they did that. Probably coded all their controling software in VB, too.