Slashdot Mirror
NSA Risks Talent Exodus Amid Morale Slump, Trump Fears (reuters.com)
Dustin Volz and Warren Strobel, writing for Reuters: The National Security Agency risks a brain-drain of hackers and cyber spies due to a tumultuous reorganization and worries about the acrimonious relationship between the intelligence community and President Donald Trump, according to current and former NSA officials and cybersecurity industry sources. Half-a-dozen cybersecurity executives told Reuters they had witnessed a marked increase in the number of U.S. intelligence officers and government contractors seeking employment in the private sector since Trump took office on Jan. 20. One of the executives, who would speak only on condition of anonymity, said he was stunned by the caliber of the would-be recruits. They are coming from a variety of government intelligence and law enforcement agencies, multiple executives said, and their interest stems in part from concerns about the direction of U.S intelligence agencies under Trump. Retaining and recruiting talented technical personnel has become a top national security priority in recent years as Russia, China, Iran and other nation states and criminal groups have sharpened their cyber offensive abilities. NSA and other intelligence agencies have long struggled to deter some of their best employees from leaving for higher-paying jobs in Silicon Valley and elsewhere.
This is completely anecdotal; I'm a mathematician and I know a lot of people who work for the NSA. Almost every single one of them right now is quietly or not so quietly looking for other work. At least one of them has an undated resignation letter in their desk ready to go if they are asked to do anything that they find morally questionable (and this is someone who has generally defended NSA's actions in the past).
So, he was fine with Obama doing anything illegal, he's just worried about Trump.
As someone else said, your "friend" is a liar and a hypocrite if he stayed on past Snowden's revelations.
Do you have ESP?
Not to be a smartass, but do we really want our best and brightest in the NSA? Whether you are politically left, right or agnostic, the surveillance state should be a serious concern for all those who value privacy and liberty. This isn't a Bush, Obama or Trump thing: this is an individual rights thing.
"Man is nothing without the works of man" -- Helvetius
They've been looking since the Snowden revelations tanked morale. During Obama's tenure. In fact, it was in the news, here on slashdot with an almost identical headline, minus the trump bit.
While what Snowden revealed was awful, it wasn't entirely unexpected.
That's not damning with faint praise, that's just damning...
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
As you pointed out, it's completely anecdotal.
So, just like half the "news" in the mainstream media, eh? "An anonymous source" blah blah blah. If that is good enough, then surely a comment from a long-time slashdotter will do?
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
No, it wasn't unexpected, but prior to that, there was plausible deniability. We all suspected, but couldn't be sure.
Now we know (without any tinfoil) they routinely commit criminal activities against the people of USA, and since none of them have been arrested and charged, everyone can be pretty sure that it's not going to stop.
Snowden hasn't even been pardoned yet. Right now, all we have are presidents supporting the NSA in its conflict against The People, and when your boss says "keep doing that" then you're going to keep doing that. Pardoning Snowden would be a no-brainer fundamental easy thing to do, whether you're going to actually have the org start flying straight, or even just pay lip service and continue the criminal activities under the radar. Until it happens, NSA is perceived as openly anti-American. If you work for the NSA, most people think that you're a crookl, even if you're just a receptionist with no power who never breaks the law.
Yes, they probably do things for us. But they have this unresolved scandal. Nothing Nixon did could ever possibly matter until Watergate was resolved. Justice must be served.
Well, an agency like the NSA does do more than one thing, you know.
This is called the selective attention fallacy. We all know that the NSA does many legitimate and non-controversial things. We just act like everyone there is involved in the controversial ones.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
I feel SO SORRY that the professional constitutional and human rights violators aren't feeling all that chipper about their work.
This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
Oh, they are pushing for backdoor-less crypto while simultaneously paying RSA $10 million to put a backdoor into their crypto? Yeah, we should really just trust these guys, I'm sure they would never use that backdoor for anything but pure good.
Enigma