Smart enough to get a job at the NSA, dumb enough to get $200k+ in debt, then think he could sell classified documents to the Russians.
this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2023
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You do not actually have to be all that smart to get a gig at the NSA.
The TLAs very much underpay relative to industry. So the vast majority of the technical staff are either dumbass True Believers or are there because they can't get a better job. Of the latter, the smart ones leave after a few years once they qualify for positions elsewhere.
So if you are even slightly intelligent, you are set. And otherwise? Just talk about how much you love America and you'll get hired.
Absolutely. And this problem applies to many government agencies/careers. It also allows these exact problems to happen more than they should. From police seizing assets to federal politicians selling out for fairly small sums. The underpaid jobs attract a certain type of person, and some are willing to turn to malicious acts to get a financial bump up.
Better pay for public roles would prevent a lot of these issues. It’s normal for a wage gap between private and public positions, but it’s usually not as bad as it is now. Teacher pay is a another great example of a completely stalled system that is now having countless issues because of it. I’d also argue that many federal politicians would be more willing to separate from their corporate donors if they were paid somewhat closer to an executive compensation.
I didn’t think that was illegal in this country. The orange gibbon hands it out like cheap candy.
Having agents posing as foreign contacts asking to sell data seems like a very effective way to deter espionage. You're not just catching the people who are willing, but you are making anyone else very nervous about who they are actually taking to, whether they're actually another undercover agent.
Adding this link: https://apnews.com/article/nsa-russia-spy-classified-colorado-dalke-51c4b13ef035f3dca8b62c433e6149d5
Had to remove the post for being duplicate but it was a different link so I am putting it here.