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Comment by elliekelly | Hacker News Reader

I appreciate that there’s probably a lot I don’t know or understand about the national security aspects of this but it seems wrong to not share as much information as possible with as many researchers as possible in order to help as many as people as possible. Protecting security interests is one thing but this press release specifically mentions protecting intellectual property and that seems kind of tone deaf.

I also wish they would explain how treatment options are jeopardized, even at a high level:

> The potential theft of this information jeopardizes the delivery of secure, effective, and efficient treatment options.

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First, it lists "affiliated with COVID-19-related research" not "exclusively COVID-19 research" so could be more than just the current research.

More importantly, while data theft is bad, data tampering could be much worse.

What happens to people's confidence, hope, and trust if a "remarkably effective" drug turns out to be a total dud or even dangerous because the underlying data was modified?

Thank you. I wonder what's really going on here.

> to not share as much information as possible with as many researchers as possible in order to help as many as people as possible.

this presumes that the stolen information would be used 'to help as many people as possible'..

Also, 1st country with viable vaccine/treatment/etc will have a huge geopolitical bargaining chip & it will likely be used as such no matter the country of origin.

> Also, 1st country with viable vaccine/treatment/etc will have a huge geopolitical bargaining chip & it will likely be used as such no matter the country of origin.

Definitely, but thankfully, it is a positive sum game.

First thing, you won't keep your bargaining chip for long. If a country manages to find a vaccine, others will follow soon enough. Besides independent research and reverse engineering efforts, it is foolish to think that the US doesn't have spies and hackers targeting China.

So in order to use that "bargaining chip", the vaccine has to be at least as valuable as what you are asking for in exchange. So while it may cost a lot to the country that doesn't have the vaccine, if it took the deal, it means that the cost is less than not having a vaccine at all.

In the end it will be used to help as many people as possible, because it is the only thing a vaccine can do. Unless someone wants a full-on war that is. But if major powers really wanted the worst, there is a pile of nukes that is ready to make the whole pandemic look like a joke.

it would be funny if Cuba finds a successful treatment protocol first.

If Russia gave it to them via China which made it from research stolen from the USA, I wouldn't call it "funny." I would call it "saving half a face, just in case."

to be clear, wasn't disagreeing, but pointing out some potential rationale why this could conceivably be viewed as a security matter vs open science matter

...huge geopolitical bargaining chip...

Ummm, I'm not sure how to break it to you, but USA is already laughingstock of world due to our comically misguided reaction to the "pandemic". Everyone expected Trump to screw up (and he hasn't disappointed), but there isn't any person or institution in USA that hasn't totally whiffed on this. CDC mandated tests that didn't work, news media remained unconvinced until late in the game and now jump from one conspiracy theory to another, in-person elections were held as late as April 7, some states required that diseased patients be forced into nursing homes for the elderly, effective masks are still somehow difficult to acquire, Congress has passed numerous "bailout" laws representing trillions of dollars yet has somehow not been able to arrange healthcare for every citizen as most comparable nations have had for decades, our deaths have passed 100k and seem certain to pass 200k as well, etc.

It's difficult not to see this "investigation" and especially this silly press release that purports to inform the public about it as just more of the same. Furious pretend activity with no view of long-term strategy or of benefit to anyone other than the bureaucrats who wrote the release.

relative level of (dis)respect of any country to another doesn't mean that country won't use something to their advantage

What is "advantage" in this case? Nations with reliable treatments and vaccines might use those to improve their citizens' health? Sure that's not something we'd do in USA but it doesn't seem like a bad idea...

I take it you've never worked in information security, because cleaning up after a mess like this is an enormous time suck and they will need to audit their data to make sure it hasn't been "adjusted". (From a national security perspective, I bet derailing a competitor's vaccine trials is at least as valuable as "stealing" data that was already going to become public in the near future.) That means spending time and money that would be better spent doing just about anything else, if it weren't for human nature.

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