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CIA and Gen Z

washingtonian.com

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Re: CIA and Gen Z

#41

Post by ajcp »

mcguire wrote: post #25

" When you pull up to the CIA headquarters in Langley, you have to shout your Social Security number out the window into a speaker, like when you’re ordering fries at a drive-through. Much like the Union that the Agency was formed to protect, the system, it seems, could be more perfect. " True story: I went to a job interview on Redstone Arsenal which meant I needed to get a vehicle pass. The recruiter sent me an ema…

"Way back in the '90s, I had a friend of Indian descent whose sister worked for the FBI. She said her sister was always getting pestered about moving into investigative field work because no one would suspect she was undercover."

I used to work in D.C. in/around DoD and Middle Eastern affairs. Not the Lords work, but in a geographic area and domain that people just associate with spooks. Even now, as a software engineer in a non-related field and metro area, upon hearing about my background everyone, and I mean everyone, will at some point joke about me being a spy or working for the CIA. I find it funny that no one has ever thought that this also means I'd be the LEAST likely to be anything clandestine. I think half of it stems from the fact that I'm just an average white dude from the Midwest; My brown or black co-workers were never seemed to be suspect.

Re: CIA and Gen Z

#42

Post by bitwize »

handrous wrote: post #39
thereddaikon wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actual socialists had secret police. Every government has intelligence services. What do you think being a socialist means and what does that have to do with working for the CIA?

Most folks throwing around "socialist" in a positive light in the US mean it like "social democracy", as in the Nordics or various European social-democratic parties. The socialist-socialists—having known a few—usually just say Marxist or communist to describe their position, in my experience. "Socialist" only means "like Venezuela or East Germany" when a Republican is saying it, not when people self-describe as soci…

Then there are the democratic socialists, who are actually socialist (unlike the social democrats) but who disavow Marxism-Leninism. Problem is, assuming you set up a democratic socialist regime, if you want to keep the democratic bit, you risk losing the socialist bit (and vice versa). A lot of demsocs don't realize this; many believe that democracy and socialism are completely coterminous with each other.

Re: CIA and Gen Z

#43

Post by nebula8804 »

josefresco wrote: post #11
altantiprocrast wrote: post #4

> One would think it’s basically impossible to get millennials and zoomers into covert jobs. The youngest of this bunch of young people have spent their entire lives online, some since their parents blasted out their first ultrasound picture as a pregnancy announcement, before they’d even gained sentience. > how exactly are you supposed to achieve this level of anonymity when you’ve flung untold reams of identifiable…

Anecdotally my kids have their social media profiles set to "private" and don't have any motivation to make them public. In fact, most of their friends with a few exceptions have the same setup. They also regularly "wash" their profiles because they're kids and are constantly redefining themselves to their peers. Good luck finding any of that in a public archive.

Gen Z/Gen Alpha grew up in a world with social media being already established and so they are aware of the pitfalls.

Millenials are screwed because they starting using social media before fully understanding the ramifications(because most people did not know how this was going to play out in the early days).

Re: CIA and Gen Z

#44

Post by cwkoss »

mcguire wrote: post #32
LinuxBender wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless this recently change it is also standard practice in the military to write your SSN on your checks and show your SSN which is on your military ID to anyone at the BX/PX. We had to say our SSN every time visiting the chow hall.

I hope it's changed; you're not supposed to do that. (TM) But the military operates in its own little world in some respects.

It should be fine to broadcast SSN, the blame really falls to credit reporting companies and lenders treating it as a private and secure identifier.

SSN's weren't designed to be secure, and after decades of leaks they certainly aren't now. Lenders have attempted to brand losses based on this as "identity theft" (putting onus on the person) rather than just "we failed to properly authenticate before handing this person our money". Time to stop subsidizing usurers by letting them get away with this. SSNs are effectively public, and are not secure identifiers.

Re: CIA and Gen Z

#45

Post by laurent92 »

phkahler wrote: post #16

Social media could be a perfect cover: An Instagram "model" who travels the world hooking up with rich guys who will pay for her trips. Am I being sarcastic or serious?

But seen another way: Hookers are, in my mind, the epitome of suspects of spying… I suppose a third of the world is driven by pillow discussions, whether actual spying, just influence, mere affinity, or rape accusations to get rid of a political person.

Re: CIA and Gen Z

#46

Post by mjevans »

humanwhosits wrote: post #36
mcguire wrote: post #25

" When you pull up to the CIA headquarters in Langley, you have to shout your Social Security number out the window into a speaker, like when you’re ordering fries at a drive-through. Much like the Union that the Agency was formed to protect, the system, it seems, could be more perfect. " True story: I went to a job interview on Redstone Arsenal which meant I needed to get a vehicle pass. The recruiter sent me an ema…

Seems like we should stop treating SSN user id like a password

SSN is current the _defacto_, unplanned, person ID and somehow also password. I agree this is insane.

A National ID, that is designed to more strongly prove ID and also designed to be used as a secure form of Authentication for Authorization services... THAT is what I'd really love politicians to approve.

I'm currently in the process of upgrading my enhanced ID drivers license to a Passport (done) and then applying for Global Entry, because it's only 15 more dollars than the TSA Precheck and includes it... so why not do that? That's my response to a lack of a national ID.

Re: CIA and Gen Z

#47

Post by laurent92 »

keewee7 wrote: post #15
havkd wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First, that depends on your circles. Second, many people turn to the right as they mature.

Unfortunately people's political positions today are more static because of social media bubbles.

Source? This seems like an estimation based on people around you; In my surroundings, people shifted from moderate to the extremes both sides, and I moved from center-left to stark right.

Re: CIA and Gen Z

#48

Post by dkarl »

LinuxBender wrote: post #31
mcguire wrote: post #25

" When you pull up to the CIA headquarters in Langley, you have to shout your Social Security number out the window into a speaker, like when you’re ordering fries at a drive-through. Much like the Union that the Agency was formed to protect, the system, it seems, could be more perfect. " True story: I went to a job interview on Redstone Arsenal which meant I needed to get a vehicle pass. The recruiter sent me an ema…

Unless this recently change it is also standard practice in the military to write your SSN on your checks and show your SSN which is on your military ID to anyone at the BX/PX. We had to say our SSN every time visiting the chow hall.

I think it's a bit late to start treating SSNs as anything more than an essentially public piece of identifying information, like your name and address that you give out to anybody you buy anything from. I think every public school teacher I ever had handled my SSN. Sometimes my schools would, for convenience, post grades or exam results in the halls using only SSNs so that nobody could supposedly know what anybody else's grades were. Being a competitive sort, I always wanted to know who else was getting good grades, and it was easy to figure out. The idea that anybody is treating SSNs as sensitive information is a little bit alarming, because that cat is out of the bag.

Re: CIA and Gen Z

#49

Post by jwilber »

keewee7 wrote: post #13

I'm Gen Z. Most Gen Zs are socialists (we actually know what it means) with a small minority of libertarians. Very few would want to work for the CIA.

Most Gen Zs in your network.

Re: CIA and Gen Z

#50

Post by to11mtm »

JALTU wrote: post #10
ClosedPistachio wrote: post #2

The full title: The CIA Is Trying to Recruit Gen Z—and Doesn’t Care If They’re All Over Social Media

Hiding in plain sight, anyone? First rule of tradecraft is you don't talk about tradecraft.

Ding ding ding!

You only spot the ones that glow. The ones that -don't- are doing their jobs right.

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