Blog Reveals a Chinese Military Hacker's Life Is One of Boredom and Bitterness 185
Nerval's Lobster writes "People's Liberation Army hackers: they're just like us. As noted by IT security firm Mandiant, and detailed in a new article by The Los Angeles Times, a blogger calling themselves 'Rocy Bird' had posted several hundred blog entries over a three-year period about life as a Chinese military hacker. It wasn't the most exciting existence. He worked a normal workday—8 A.M. until 5:30 P.M., unless some project required late hours—and lived in a dorm. He dined often on instant noodles and enjoyed the television series 'Prison Break.' He spent lots of time online, even when off the clock. And like millions of people all over the world, he disliked many aspects of his job. 'What I can't understand is why all the work units are located in the most remote areas of the city,' the hacker, who the Times identified as having the family name Wang, wrote in a portion of a blog posting reprinted by the paper. 'I really don't get what those old guys are thinking in the beginning. They should at least take us young people into consideration. How can passionate young people like us handle a prison-like environment like this?'"
Just in case (Score:1, Offtopic)
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Enjoyed Prison Break... (Score:5, Funny)
Attitudinal similarities: screwed by managers (Score:5, Interesting)
Bite the wax tadpole, indeed. I wonder how you translate "Bradley Manning" into Mandarin or Cantonese? Tech workers are pushed around by slave-drivers and middle management everywhere in the world, in all possible environments. Did you catch how his manager was able to expense a $100-equivalent bottle of liquor while the keyboard-combatant couldn't even get $1 reimbursed for bus-ffare to attend a tech conference?
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How do you translate "Dilbert" into Chinese? No need. It's all the same!
Re:Attitudinal similarities: screwed by managers (Score:5, Insightful)
It's no real surprise how similar it is to live in an economic society under communist rule as it is to live in an economic society under democratic rule when modern democracy has done everything it can to resist any push to reform into a method of governance that gives people actual choice, rather than the illusion of choice.
Bradley Manning's case is a great example of the difference between pissing off a communist party, and pissing off a military that reports to a democratic government.
In China, you get torture then execution.
In America, you get torture (or is that "subjected to enhanced interrogation techniques"), prison, a theatrical presentation for the benefit of the public called "fair trial", prison, then death.
You say tomato, I say tomato.
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-33 years
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We may not have town-hall meetings, but with the speed of communications today, you can make your opinions know to your elected reps. You can call the office, email them, Facebook them, or tweet them. In fact you can do all of the above, and you should. Your rep may not listen, but then you can do all of the above and let that person know why you are not voting for them. Get enough people in your district to do the same, and no amount of corporate money will sway your rep. They will realize that they h
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People are idiots and money talks. Communicating will never change politicians unless things go extreme, and I don't mean Mt Dew style.
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This is the flaw with my plan, but as Rage Against the Machine stated, "It has to start somewhere, it has to start sometime.What better place than here, what better time than now?".
If you start it, and get all your friends and family to start. If they get all their friends to start, it will increase exponentially. Within a decade we could get the money out of politics and make real change in the government. We are at a point in society, where this is truly possible.
Just earlier this week I called out one
Re: tweeting your senators (Score:2)
.
Cool! Can you point me to the tweets? I'd like to see some truth spouted by a congress-critter! Actually, I am serious, I'd love to see what the senator twittered/tweeted.
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" ... Facebook them .... "
You verbed Facebook.
Bad boy. Now, go bleach your brain.
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Yes sir, I am sorry about that.
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So in your opinion China is a democracy, is it?
The Russians knew (Score:5, Insightful)
During Glasnost, Russian reporters on the American election noted not just how similar the US elections were to USSR ones (pick one of two) but how much BETTER the Americans had gotten at totally muzzling the press through unseen torture methods because at no point could the Russians see any sign of the American media asking akward or difficult questions. What terrible gulags must exist to put the fright into the press to such a degree!?!
Well... the answer is of course, the gulag of exile. Ask akward or non-pre-approved questions and you don't get access anymore to special events and then have to explain to your advertisers why your network/newspaper was the one not present at a press conference. It is a marvelous system. You can ask any question you want as a member of the free press at a press conference... you just won't be there to ask them.
The KGB had to actually get out of their chair to supress the media, get their hands bloody. The white house press officer just sends one less invite. It is not just the US doing this, ask the wrong questions and they can't keep you out of the official big gatherings, you just don't get access anymore to all the "optional" stuff. It is so simple but it is where democracy dies. It is not just the ones in power that do it, Palin only does things by invite and with pre-approved lists of questions. Wilders both bans AND is himself banned (right wing dutch politician).
Mind you, the catholics show the other method doesn't really work either. In theory any kardinal can be elected pope... so how come they got the rotten luck every single elected pope turns out to be a war criminal, child molesting bigot? I mean... what are the odds... unless every single catholic is a nasty piece of work... nah... that couldn't be the case could it? Or could it be that if the milk is spoiled, that which rises to the top is not the cream? That any person who makes it into a position of being elected ruler has had to swim in the cesspool for so long, they can't help but got tainted?
That it don't matter how many are up for election, they are all part of the system because the system is what nurtured them?
Geert Wilders is a right wing dutch politician who often bitches about "The Hague" which is our capitol hill. Tiny detail, he is one of the longest serving politicians. It is the clincher for many right wingers, if someone tells you business will solve everything and government is filled with useless people who can't do anything right... and they been in government for decades and have no business experience... do you believe them?
If you are a Republican, you should listen to richest people on this planet since they by your believe system are the most right. So... what do Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have to say about politics? Mmm?
We are the cesspool and our leaders are what floated to the top.
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So, what you're saying is, is that the status quo is God?
Re:The Russians knew (Score:4, Interesting)
I think possibly if conditions in the US were as in USSR and the only penalty for stepping out of line was not to get invited to the swanky interviews, you'd see a lot more critical journalism than now. Also, asking politicians difficult questions is pretty pointless anyway - they have years of training in dodging such questions. What matters is to report on the awkward facts that would inspire such awkward questions and you don't need access to the politicians to do that. You don't need to ask Obama if he orders drone strikes on Americans - you just have to report on the matter. So whether politicians are asked awkward questions is not relevant to how a democracy is doing - what matters is reporting on salient facts.
Re:The Russians knew (Score:4, Insightful)
I mean... what are the odds... unless every single catholic is a nasty piece of work... nah... that couldn't be the case could it? Or could it be that if the milk is spoiled, that which rises to the top is not the cream? That any person who makes it into a position of being elected ruler has had to swim in the cesspool for so long, they can't help but got tainted?
Really, you're painting a billion odd people with the same brush? As with politicians there's a big difference between the leadership and the average individual. And unlike voters Catholics have exactly zero say in church policy or elections. I'm not defending the religion, just pointing out the reality.
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You don't have to. Your two-party system is quite efficient at keeping them out.
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If you are a Republican, you should listen to richest people on this planet since they by your believe system are the most right. So... what do Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have to say about politics? Mmm?
Nope. Their ability to profit from the existing system does not mean that they have the right principles. A munchkin would never push rules that would help himself, right?
That you even think that Republican principles are about "helping the rich" shows that you have no clue what they think.
It's not about favoring a certain group; it's about not favoring anyone at all.
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"Government" being filled with useless people is also true for businesses where its near-impossible to get rid of people for being incompetent. One "local" solution is to promote them away where they become someone else's problem.
But for businesses, outside of gov't granted monopolies, you don't have to give them a cent to fund their dysfunctionality.
The gov't also happens to have a monopoly on violence.
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So, how much longer until China realizes that all they need to do to fully replicate western society is to give their citizens a right to vote every 4 years between 'thing 1' and 'thing 2'.
* And get freedom of speech
* And the right to assemble / protest
* And freedom of religion
* And right to an attorney
* And an 8th amendment
* And 4th amendment rights
* And 2nd amendment rights
But yea, theyre totally the same. Seriously, do you know anything about China, or are you just trolling? Whens the last time someone in the US got carted off to a labor camp for being a political blogger? Whens the last time the Great US Firewall blocked facebook or disc
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That happens in China, not the US. If you want to claim otherwise, provide the terms and / or some proof, because that would be pretty major news which noone has reported on yet.
Like China and Russia, the United States has political prisoners... Barrett Brown.
From wikipedia...
On December 7, 2012, Brown was indicted on an additional 12 federal charges stemming from the December 25, 2011 hack of Austin-based private intelligence company Stratfor.
Brown faces up to 15 years in federal prison
So not 100 years, and however bogus the charges may be theyre not due to "blogging", theyre due to involvement in leaking hacked info. Two completely different things.
Im not justifying it, but its really sad that you dont grasp the difference between a country where you may get the hammer dropped on you for being involved with hacker groups, and being arrested for simply posting on a political position. We simply do not have that here, as evidenced by the third party debates and the existence of conspiracy theories around the president. Heck, even calling for a presidental impeachment is allowed here, where similar actions in China result in your disappearance.
If you want to live in conspiracy fantasyland, you can, I just hope for your sake you never have the chance to go to china and make similar accusations. At least as a non-citizen of China you would only be kicked out of the country....
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Easy my Italian friend!
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Someone needs to call JC Denton about this!
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It is quite scary and enlightening to replay Deus Ex now. So much of it echoes of the current US position. Only real differences is that the Statue of Liberty is not bombed and UN does not hold power over the United States.
Oh and the game had NSF who actually got their shit together and fought back; In real life people just whine about the situation and do nothing.
Re:Won't work (Score:5, Insightful)
They used Fema to move people who'd lost everything all over the country so they couldn't become a dangerous voting block
That's the lamest conspiracy theory I've heard all week. Fema and the rest of the clowns involved in that circus were simply incompetent to the point of criminal neglect.
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That's the lamest conspiracy theory I've heard all week. Fema and the rest of the clowns involved in that circus were simply incompetent to the point of criminal neglect.
You'd like to think that, but there's no reason for FEMA to need APCs unless they're going to make war against us. And how much news have you heard out of NJ about the FEMA camps you're not allowed to leave, in which you need permission to go to the bathroom... convicted criminals have more freedom. This stuff doesn't even appear in our media, because we are not meant to be aware of it.
Re:Won't work (Score:4, Informative)
I live in NJ and I've volunteered to help with the cleanup in Union Beach several times in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
A close friend of mine has been volunteering at the shore every single weekend since the evacuation orders were lifted in the area.
Neither of us have seen anything remotely similar to what you've described.
This stuff doesn't even appear in our media because it's not real.
Alex Jones, is that you?
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Re:Won't work (Score:4)
Reason is such a funny word to apply to a process that involves people appointed by committee asking for funding.
In a real way, you are absolutely correct. However, that sort of rational thinking is often totally absent, and I think you really need to look at how the Military Industrial Complex, and its newer subsidieries work.
Check out this: http://www.speroforum.com/a/UGRHJGPCSM51/73796-Hercules-C130-An-epic-tale-of-military-aviation-and-pork-spending?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email3-13-2013 [speroforum.com]
Long story short... the Military asked for some number of planes that they expected to need. Congress bought 50 times that for them. Not 10% extra, not 50%...5000% more. Why? Because Lockheed-Martin started directing their sales efforts directly at politicians.
What you have done is made a ground assessment of need, and looked at what they have vs what they need, and concluded that they have a hidden agenda. You are absolutely correct, but that agenda is to waste money on equipment. Money wasted on equipment is money that goes into jobs, that buy constituents.
Oh it leaves them prepared for war against us, and since they have the ability, it becomes that much easier, but, that's not what they are preparing for, that's just the accidental consequence, they just don't care about that, its not their problem.
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You'd like to think that, but there's no reason for FEMA to need APCs unless they're going to make war against us.
You obviously don't understand how government requisitioning works. Here's a snippet of the relevant conversation:
FEMA staffer "We need some trucks."
FEMA manager "We only got 10% of the budget we asked for, you get a wheelbarrow."
FEMA staffer "Well, we still need the trucks, what do we do?
FEMA manager "Next budget cycle, ask for something expensive, like an Armored Personnel Carrier."
FEMA staffer "But we don't need APCs - we need trucks!
FEMA manager "Idiot. If you ask for a 4 million dollar APC, you just
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Holy crap! Did someone hack your account or something? You used to seem so balanced and rational before and now this? WTF?
Let's assume for a moment that your account was not hacked and that you are rational... do you have any evidence to show anyone else that what you are saying is true? While I am not terribly surprised that they might have APCs since disaster zones and whacked survivalists may cause some concern for safety of personnel, I would be more interested in proof of "needing permission to go to t
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Let's assume for a moment that your account was not hacked and that you are rational... do you have any evidence to show anyone else that what you are saying is true?
References abound. If you don't care enough to go find them when it is so very easy, I cannot help you. I do not care if people too lazy to use google believe me or not. They are not important. I cannot force people to remember history.
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Well then. Since I have heard nothing about these FEMA camps and find your claims so incredibly outrageous, I will not bother to search further. Why should I waste my time on fruitless searches that I do not believe in? Should I search on Google for medical experiments run by the government to create a race of zombies? How about any other of the millions of weird, batshit crazy conspiracy themes? If your story was true, you would have provided a link or two to reputable sources and then told me to search fo
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"Extraordinary claims requier extraordinary evidence." You can't just make a wild claim like that and then shine it on with "oh, it;'s everywhere, YOU go find it."
Provide evidence or I call bullshit and go on my way assuming that you're just another internet crank. If it's so easy, YOU provide the evidence. It's like saying "the moon is made of green cheese" and then when I say "prove it" you say "go find out for yourself." Or, closer to homer, saying "an all-powewerful superbeing naed god exists." "R
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posting to undo bad moderation... oops
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just wondering..
should they have moved everyone into one big promised land housing project outside LA or where the fuck was fema supposed to move the people that didn't think they were handled well?
(and it's not like those could keep in touch with internet or whatever..)
Surely There's Something Interesting To Do (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Surely There's Something Interesting To Do (Score:5, Funny)
Did he ever explore the steam tunnels? Take up lockpicking and go exploring places he wasn't supposed to go? Go looking for parquor lines?
Start a global thermonuclear war?
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If parent and grandparent were going for Karma, they should know that +Funny gives no Karma and hence would be rather pointless.
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If parent and grandparent were going for Karma, they should know that +Funny gives no Karma and hence would be rather pointless.
Well day-yum. Why didn't somebody tell me sooner?
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If parent and grandparent were going for Karma, they should know that +Funny gives no Karma and hence would be rather pointless.
Well day-yum. Why didn't somebody tell me sooner?
Your ID is way older than mine, and I've known this for donkey's years...
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Somebody set us up the bomb. (Score:1, Offtopic)
Re:Surely There's Something Interesting To Do (Score:4, Insightful)
Something tells me that's the kind of stuff that gets you disappeared in China.
Probably not worth the risk. Hell, it's hardly even worth the risk in North America...
Re:Surely There's Something Interesting To Do (Score:5, Insightful)
Hell, it's hardly even worth the risk in North America...
In North America, everything is illegal, off limits, or for authorized personnel only, and with rather stiff consequences if you're caught. We have a higher incarceration rate than China. So I say, if you're really going to have the democratic spirit...
Ignore all that shit, and do it anyway.
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Actually the incarceration rate in China is pretty much 100%.
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Regarding incarnation rates, in China they have extrajudicial sentencing, and you get to volunteer your body to medical science when the sentence is carried out. Communi-capitalism is neat, huh?
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In China, there is a common conception that everything is illegal and the only thing that matters is being successful before you get noticed. Then you get to join "the club". But if you're the odd-man-out you're going to do life or worse. In China you have to engage in graft to get around laws designed to enforce their take on communism.
In the US one does not need to risk a moral abiguity or legality to have a summer home. But if you want to become really weathy, you're probably going to have to stain you s
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We have a higher incarceration rate than China.
China executes more than ten times as many people as we do per capita, and that's just the ones they admit to. You're promoting something at the risk of death because it doesn't carry the risk of incarceration.
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Idiot.
Sorry, missed two spaces and auto-correct screws up your sentence.
The proper parent post: I do it.
Re:Surely There's Something Interesting To Do (Score:4, Interesting)
I think it's pretty easy to fall into dispair when you are young. The truth is that for anyone sane, money does buy happiness. You know what makes you happy and nothing will get you what you need to do that but money...unless your happiness focuses on being a monk.
Of course I'm assuming the western notion of property rights that taunt the people of China...
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Instead of that goofy shit how about he go for a walk, maybe a bike ride (if he could afford one) or any other simple outdoor activity that wont land him in a gulag.
Sounds like an American drone pilot... (Score:1)
It's like a Chinese version of an American drone pilot, but with less blood on his hands, and more noodles on his plate.
Older (Score:2, Interesting)
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If only the newer butter actually did something on the first page, like baconize the site or order me a pizza.
/., are you looking for a web developer?
Boredom and bitterness? (Score:1)
military life (Score:5, Insightful)
Based on the comment in the summary: what did this person think the military was like? Perhaps the people that recruited him sold him a bill of goods: 'Protect the Fatherland! China faces threats on multiple fronts! It'll be better than World of Warcraft and The Matrix combined! Your skill set and our resources will be cracking secrets everywhere in Europe and the U.S.A. and you'll be a hero and celebrated! You'll be part of the select group protecting us from the evil outside our borders that doesn't recognize our sovereignty."
Re:military life (Score:4, Interesting)
China technically has universal military conscription, it's entirely possible he's not doing it by choice.
Re:military life (Score:5, Informative)
Not true. You are confusing China with Korea (both of them).
China has a large enough population, a large percentage of which still living in poverty, that there are no shortage of people who are willing recruits. Besides, unlike America, China isn't fighting wars with anyone (not yet, at least), so there is no danger in a military career.
The Chinese military is genuinely, entirely voluntary.
Re:military life (Score:5, Interesting)
Typical chicom propaganda ..
"genuinely, entirely voluntary"? Only in the same way that foxconn employees "voluntarily" kill themselves.
"China isn't fighting wars with anyone"? Tell that to the philippinos and vietnamese and see how they laugh at claims that china is a peaceful country.
Take your propaganda shill ..
well put up a list of the chinese confrontations where chinese soldiers have kicked the bucket then.
point being, being in the chinese military gives you a leg up so it's a legitimate career choice to volunteer in to increase your quality of life. mostly at the the expense of other chinese but still with little to no danger of actually getting shot in battle.
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So lets recap shall we? (Score:5, Interesting)
- The Chinese military
- The Chinese leadership
- Hacking techniques
- Hacking targets
- Lifestyles of government employed hackers
And was derisive. The Chinese government didn't happen to notice that one of their military intelligence agents living in a military dorm was regularly posting derisive and secret information for 3 years. Just to state the bleedingly obvious here, but this would never happen in the US and the Chinese are much stricter on information control.
So do you trust the Los Angeles Times and a private security agency pitching for government contracts, or
Take the red pill.
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So you're saying Bradley Manning is a fabrication and not a real person?
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So you're saying Bradley Manning is a fabrication and not a real person?
Are you talking about the Bradley Manning who was incarcerated 3 years ago for a single secret release of classified material to a famously secure website?
.. 'BManning'?
Or are you talking about the other Bradley Manning who spent 3 years writing a public blog about secret military operations and is currently roaming freely somewhere in the mid-west writing reviews of ice-cream parlours under his secret identity
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So you're saying Bradley Manning is a fabrication and not a real person?
So you're saying Bradley had been posting secrets on his blog for 3 years?
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This.
It is blindingly obvious that a PR campaign has been going on around "cyber war" and "cyber terrorism" and aimed at China.
It is also blindingly obvious that the public at large will eat this horseshit right up and vote for whoever promises the most "cyber security".
It worries me how this might go...
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Yeah, except this kind of article doesn't make me think, "Yeah! Let's get those sneaky bastards! I'm in! Time for a Great Firewall of America!"...
It just makes me feel bad for some individual somewhere, that his life is just as mundane as anyone else's, and that he's seemingly unmotivated to perform his duty at top effort.
Not exactly the kind of message you want to send if you're hell-bent on promoting a cyber war or whatever.
Re:So lets recap shall we? (Score:5, Insightful)
It just makes me feel bad for some individual somewhere, that his life is just as mundane as anyone else's, and that he's seemingly unmotivated to perform his duty at top effort. Not exactly the kind of message you want to send if you're hell-bent on promoting a cyber war or whatever
The lies will come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. This particular lie is promoting the idea that Chinese citizenry are down trodden, unhappy and poorly fed. The best and brightest are locked in jails and forced to work long hours without socialisation. There's always some truth in the lies, that's what makes them so compelling. That this particular lie feeds on the truth (that some Chinese workers live in poor or even terrible conditions) to construct something conceivably possible is simply the artistry in the campaign. eg. You believe it.
.. it's pretty clear where the money is in this story.
Always question things. This particular report comes with no evidence, no source, nothing to believe whatsoever. At best, it could be summarized as a story, fiction. It's delivered by a private security company, broadcast by a multi-national corporation and submitted to the largest tech news site on the web. To find the truth, follow the money
Personally, I never drank Kool-Aid.
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Or ...are you a clever counter intel agent? If so, ni hao.
By the way, please get your half retarded monkey known as the NORKS back on a leash and grow the fuck up over the fishing area conflicts with Japan. Please? Japan, they are our friends and they are brilliant, they might seriously fuck you up with something we don't know about. Also, they have had a break through that could render oil as the main power source obsolete. We would all love to tell the Middle East to go fuck itself, no?
We have space and s
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There's always some truth in the lies, that's what makes them so compelling.
Since we know from the accounts of victims who have escaped and from other evidence that China enslaves people for things like their religious beliefs and then subjects them to slave labor, I'm only left wondering how you collect your fifty cents.
Remind me of WMD in Iraq (Score:5, Insightful)
Exactly! This whole sage has suddenly been blown up recently. They have the full control of their routers and gateway and can fake network addressing information anyway they want, if it is a serious spy operation. Besides, anyone who really know China should know that government departments or employees in china are almost ways just work for their own projects for their own profits, rather than that of the country's.
This whole saga reminds me of the WMD in Iraq claim before the Iraq war. It was so convinced at the time that Iraq was building/storing massive WMD that aimed at US... until we spent trillions of dollar and thousands of lives to find out the whole thing is a flop. So many defense contractors who were friendly to the ruling parties got big rainfall, and nobody really got punished for such terrible intelligence.
This time, though, we will never find out the truth, because we can't possibly invade China to find out. We will just keep spending $$$. Thanks a lot!
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But that the Chinese military has lots of employed hackers is already something everyone knows
Call me ignorant. The Chinese government claims it isn't hacking, and I've yet to see evidence to the contrary. Hyperbole, allegations, lies .. these all come in droves. Proof? Not a drop
I'd be shocked if the Chinese government didn't have defensive hacking capabilities. They probably even have offensive hacking capabilities. I'm positively certain that the Australian government has cyber security professionals on the payroll (because I've seen banner ads recruiting people for the jobs) and we all know
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and I've yet to see evidence to the contrary. Hyperbole, allegations, lies .. these all come in droves. Proof? Not a drop
Did you see the Mandiant info release of a few weeks ago?
http://intelreport.mandiant.com/ [mandiant.com]
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No way!...?! (Score:2)
You mean to tell me that such an organized, concerted and government-directed effort by the Chinese to hack other countries on a corporate and national scale is actually BORING?
I can't believe it isn't more of a grass-roots effort with neat 3D graphics and Jolie boobs like in the movie Hackers!!
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Hack the Gibson!
Not the least bit surprised (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Not the least bit surprised (Score:5, Interesting)
When I moved to France, I went to a language school and many of the other students were Chinese.
We had to do oral presentations on a subject of our own choosing, and one of the Chinese students explained the system of democracy in China. The local people elect a representative, the representatives elect people further up the chain, congress, deputies, etc, etc, right up to the president.
The Chinese students thought this was perfect democracy in action, and were baffled that the Europeans, Africans and New Worlders couldn't understand how wonderful and flawless the system was. When we pointed out that there was only one party, they indignantly said there were several parties to choose from: more than in France.
On the subject of censorship, they thought it was necessary to protect the country, and made hand-waving explanations that things were different in China.
These kids were the offspring of the kind of Chinese families who could afford to send their children to study in France, so no doubt are not representative of the population as a whole, but it was still a real eye-opener for me, who had kind of assuming that the Chinese would want the same kind of (imperfect) democracy we have in the West.
Personally, I still think it's basically down to indoctrination, but if so, it's evidently pretty effective indoctrination.
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It's been said before in this thread, if you split up the existing Communist Party into red and blue teams, how would it be different from American representative democracy? Sure they have wildly different policies but the political system would be very similar. Two parties to choose from with representative voting, the two sides may even differ slightly, but have basically the same goals and can and DO run roughshod over the will of the population.
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Most non-Americans don't hate their government - most are not happy about it, but unconditional, pathological hatred and distrust of government is a uniquely American trait.
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Obviously you've never lived in italy.
Why not outsource to the US? (Score:2, Funny)
If they don't like their jobs, why not outsource it to someone in the US?
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Likely there is a whole lot of outsourcing going on. You can bet those that are whinging are those involved in projects with no money making opportunities. So the government does the hack and 'er' 'um' drops the project and 'er' 'um' private contractors pick up the proceeds but of course the blame stays with the government.
You can imagine the problems this will create all over the world, the level of out of control corruption it will inevitably create. Private theft facilitated by government penetration,
Not all that different from an American (Score:2)
I doubt American hackers have lives which aren't bitter and boring as well. That is the life of a hacker.
Learn from GCHQ/NSA (Score:5, Insightful)
Sounds like the growing pains of the 1950-60's GCHQ and NSA stations around the "Commonwealth" land for signal bases swap.
The conditions in the UK bases where cash strapped - any money raised was going to exotic expensive new equipment and keeping the USA very happy.
The Russians where fast to pick up on the gifted young men and woman in distant lands with very low wages, mounting lifestyle costs and young families.
Add in a cold command structure left over from past wars and many where open to waiting Russian offers.
What has China (and other spook agencies) learned?
Young people with dreams might walk out - dont hire skilled people with any strange imaginations.
Keep tourists, business types, diplomates in other parts of the country/city. If the foreigners venture out they are easy to note.
Hire gifted locals, from trusted families with deep village backgrounds. If you walk out the pain will be massive - up and down the family tree,
If China wants more from its staff they should follow the GCHQ reforms of the 1970-90's (excluding the union issues) - wage and basic working condition improvements.
Drop the military feel - even something as simple as the endless tight "dress" uniforms can make a huge difference to the quality of everyday life to a young officer.
Cash the staff up and offer massive extra rewards for extra long term study (NSA is great at that
If China lets the "anguished person" thing fester they will suffer.
The UK and USA where able to profile and wage up their staff to fix that issue. Long term China will have to make some huge cash investments in domestic tech.
The internet in the USA always was and will be a NSA play thing - totally open to 'cyber command' and will soon go on the offence.
"not elite uber-hackers" seems to show China is just learning like the UK did in the 1950-70's with US tech.
What can China do? Face down the NSA on the "internet" - that did not work well for the Russians.
Go for soft US personal with issues and buy them to sell out the USA? The NSA keeps its staff and exstaff close.
Or just keep chipping away with a broad front of masses of staff hoping a few get into some US box thats open to scripts?
The only problem for the USA is its own staff pushing for cloud and networking - somehow "all" the data been shared will give them insights.
Many spy agencies have lost generations of work due to massive data loss in one go due to a person and in the future a script/hack.
Russia will aim for the person or site, China is going for everything and will see what drops out
All the NSA can do is keep its gems off the network - but the demands of contracts with political/mil friends with cloud tools for sale will be fun to watch.
We've got him! (Score:2)
Ha! We've got him now!
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<puts on glasses>
I suppose you've got him by the Wang.
Re:what's an "exciting" existence? (Score:5, Interesting)
Most people don't, and I'm pretty sure most people wouldn't want an "exciting" existence. Ever heard the old curse "may you live in interesting times"?
Think about it and you know why it's a curse.
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Another opinion...
you can sleep when you're dead.
If you don't push yourself you might as well be sleeping or dead.
You don't need to try to kill yourself, but at least make the health insurance pay for it.
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When I lived in Atlanta I liked my IT jobs, hated the non tech execs, dispised the South, and hated my life even though i had a lot of great friends. But the day to day realy wore on me.
Today, I still enjoy working in IT and I live 8miles from Snowbird/Alta. It really is the best snow on this Earth. In the summer I can push my bike up Cottonwood Canyon and put my bike on the lift in Park City, that's pretty fun. And I can see Mountain Goats and Moose on a hike. Hunting too if you're into that. Or climb a l
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I was very sure I picked a hint of "pythonesque" humor in the voice over so I googled and yup, it's a hoax [huffingtonpost.com]
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Maybe Kim Jong-Un will have a public screening of that video. Attendance will be mandatory.
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