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Comment by paxys | Hacker News Reader

> imagine what a state-level actor can do

More like, imagine what a state-level actor has done already. Heck they don't even need to carry out hacks of this nature. It would be trivial for a government to embed an agent at any tech company at a way higher level than customer support. Do people really think a top CS graduate recruited to a coveted intelligence role can't pass a FAANG interview?

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> Do people really think a top CS graduate recruited to a coveted intelligence role can't pass a FAANG interview?

There are no top CS grads working for any government, other than perhaps academy graduates, and then only temporarily. For a top CS grad, private sector salaries are 5-20x what government will pay, and if they are top CS grads, they'll be smart enough to do the math.

The H1-B program was practically designed to give foreign agents an easy way into our infrastructure.

Think of our top political enemies and consider which direction the Visas go.

Is India an enemy?

I don't think India would weaponize H1-B, but it wouldn't be beyond Russia or China. BTW, having sleeper agents deeply implanted in other countries is an insurance policy.

China and Russia were the two countries I was primarily thinking of when I wrote that post. It's worth pointing out that in the international spy game your friends also spy on you. I feel confident India has agents in the US.

They would be stupid if they didn’t. The US has a tendency to meddle in internal politics of other countries and having sleeper assets in sufficient numbers is a deterrent.

Unfortunately, for these countries, H1Bs are very easy to locate.

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