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Comment by Alupis | Hacker News Reader

> The DOGE team included the teenage hackers

It's amusing to me how so many people want to believe technical workers within the government are apparently all crusty, old, 50-something's instead of young "kids" in their twenties and thirties.

NSA, every branch of the military, and more are bursting at the seams with twenty-somethings that have access to some of the most sensitive information on the planet... yet nobody bats an eye.

Then we can consider the technical staff at places such as Experian, Capital One, and more... they're all fairly young too.

This has turned into quite the political narrative... "twenty-somethings have access to your data - be afraid, very afraid!"

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I'm not sure what what op meant. At least two people there were teenage hackers, but not in a positive sense. They were part of crime organisations.

But even concentrating on the age part - people in their 20s are working NSA and others. They're extremely unlikely to have access to the most sensitive information unsupervised since they're not senior enough. And definitely don't have a Yolo level decision making responsibilities. The restrictions, reporting, clearances and rules following in some of those places are unlike anything Doge ever did.

Teenagers, as you say, are entrusted by the government with weapons that can destroy and cause untold amount of damage on personnel and property and nobody has complained about that. There even 17-year-olds with such responsibility. Also, plenty of people in their early 20s either have access to sensitive data or have access to code accessing such data.

You say entrusted like it's some great honor. Teenagers are _used_ in wars because they are easy to manipulate, indoctrinate and control.

> weapons that can destroy and cause untold amount of damage on personnel and property and nobody has complained about that.

Yeah... No.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_protests_against_the_V...

"Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?" was about teens being sent out as well.

There's a big difference in consequences. Military, copy wrong data to random laptop -> court martial.

Are you suggesting there are no consequences for government employees who willfully steal and/or leak confidential data?

The Espionage Act of 1917, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and Economic Espionage Act, among others, beg to differ.

with this administration, nobody is suggesting that at all. there is no doubt there are no consequences if you're taking orders directly from the supreme leader or his immediate staff. that's a certainty.

Wait, which administration are you talking about?

The one with a convicted criminal at the head of it who's been having a ball abusing his office because of an "immunity" that the Supreme Court invented specifically for him.

Prosecuting crimes under those acts requires an AG who's qualified and isn't kowtowing to a President more than willing to pardon traitors and a judiciary that isn't blindly following a conservative agenda.

We are fucked without even the benefit of lube.

> Are you suggesting there are no consequences for government employees who willfully steal and/or leak confidential data?

Depends on who your friends in government are.

> The Espionage Act of 1917, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and Economic Espionage Act, among others, beg to differ.

Assaulting police officers and trying to overthrow the government is also illegal. People have been convicted of it. And yet if you know the right people you won't suffer any consequences:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardon_of_January_6_United_Sta...

> It's amusing to me how so many people want to believe technical workers within the government are apparently all crusty, old, 50-something's instead of young "kids" in their twenties and thirties.

The word I used was 'teenage'.

Wow, and here I thought it's because the guy calls himself "Big Balls" and has a career in .. Discord crypto scams? You know, hacker as in "criminal", just too stupid to appear on Brian Krebs.

No, it was just the age apparently.

Are you alleging the government did not conduct the normal and required background checks/investigations for security clearances in Coristine's case?

Am I talking to GPT? Is your knowledge cutoff 2 years ago? Invoke the web tool, do the research. Bizarre redirect into statute reading, tremendously boring.

I’m thinking this is just one of those that’s become emotionally invested in defending a certain group for some reason and he’s going to make an argument against anything he perceives as a slight towards them.

> one of those that’s become emotionally invested in defending a certain group for some reason

Sunk cost fallacy is a hell of a thing. It's why Q-Anon was able to grow.

The current government certainly hasn't shown much reverence for following established protocols.

These NEW 20 year olds are scary!

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