11–20 of 103 posts
> After sending the messages, Hershowitz declared his comments “off the record,” which requires both parties to agree to the terms in advance. TechCrunch is publishing the responses as there was no agreement made What a failure for a spokesperson.
This isn't good journalism and should not be celebrated.
Time to start turning your networks off when not in use
> After sending the messages, Hershowitz declared his comments “off the record,” which requires both parties to agree to the terms in advance. TechCrunch is publishing the responses as there was no agreement made What a failure for a spokesperson.
More like a failure on TechCrunch. There is an implied agreement and violating it will result in a flat refusal to talk outside of prepared press releases. This isn't good journalism and should not be celebrated.
The implied agreement is that everything is on the record unless explicitly agreed otherwise beforehand.
I always wondered how the software people who work in places like this live with themselves. Is it some sort of “enough money can make me forget and look myself in the mirror” situation?
It’s an Israeli company - they probably consider their work a matter of national security and get along just fine with that
I always wondered how the software people who work in places like this live with themselves. Is it some sort of “enough money can make me forget and look myself in the mirror” situation?
I guess it is like the scammers working in call centers and building RAT:s. They surely must have a level of sociopathy greater than the average person.
The “develops weaponised software exploits” is not clear for me. Maybe it’s the same kind of mindset that lets people design and build weapons and bombs and such?
Americans, if you don't stand up now, you will have to relearn the lesson Germans had to learn eighty years ago.
> After sending the messages, Hershowitz declared his comments “off the record,” which requires both parties to agree to the terms in advance. TechCrunch is publishing the responses as there was no agreement made What a failure for a spokesperson.
More like a failure on TechCrunch. There is an implied agreement and violating it will result in a flat refusal to talk outside of prepared press releases. This isn't good journalism and should not be celebrated.
I always wondered how the software people who work in places like this live with themselves. Is it some sort of “enough money can make me forget and look myself in the mirror” situation?
They tell themselves stories about "if free market did not want it it would not exist" or better us than them
I always wondered how the software people who work in places like this live with themselves. Is it some sort of “enough money can make me forget and look myself in the mirror” situation?
There are good applications of these tools. If you can hack the phones of a terrorist organization, you can find out about attacks before they happen and stop them. If you can extract data off of locked computers, you can help win convictions that wouldn't otherwise be possible against people who do truly awful things.
The question, of course, is whether these good applications outweigh the misuse, but that's where it gets murky in a hurry. Individual researchers at these privately owned "boutique" exploit companies (to my knowledge) tend not to know the nitty gritty details of how their work is used out in the world unless it gets caught and dissected online. The more reputable western companies sell only to "democratic" governments which are political allies, but that only goes so far as misuse and abuse is always a risk (not to mention the shaky nature of...certain... western democracies).
At the end of the day, you really just have to hope your work is being used to target terrorists and not journalists. The money obviously makes it easier, but it's not completely disingenuous of the people who work there to believe they're doing good.