the FBI, computer hackers, & marijuana

The FBI needs to hire more computer hackers to combat international cyberterrorism, but the Bureau is faced with a personnel dilemma because some of the best hackers are also marijuana smokers. Earlier this week, FBI director James Comey suggested the FBI is considering relaxing its employee anti-drug policy, which mandates that new hires be marijuana-free for at least 3 years.

(Comey also made an unfunny joke about job applicants smoking dope on their way to the interview.)

Several U.S. Senators are outraged that the FBI is considering hiring pot smokers. And they didn't like his unfunny joke. “Do you understand that that could be interpreted as one more example of leadership in America dismissing the seriousness of marijuana use? And that could undermine our ability to convince young people not to go down a dangerous path?” Sen. Jeff Sessions asked hotly. (Did Sessions vote for George W. Bush?)

Seems to me that state-sponsored cyberwarfare (China, Russia, Iran, etc.) and criminal computer viruses are a serious threat to U.S. national security. And it seems to me that these computer threats trump the far more mild threat of marijuana. On the other hand... it'd be hypocritical for the FBI to knowingly hire pot smoking employees while thousands of grass smokers are stuck in prison for precisely the same "crime."

What do you think?

I don't think the FBI should turn down someone with needed skills, but that doesn't mean they have to open their agency to the person like they would a screened and trained agent.

But it can go badly too -- "Whitey" Bulger was an employee of sorts. For whatever they try to gain, there is more risk once they work outside strict standards.

Quote: reno

What do you think?

Well past time to decriminalize pot.

I don't know that hiring hackers is the same has hiring snitches either domestic or foreign. While you need a scumbag like Henry Hill because in OC you have to be a member for life and live the life to keep contacts, I don't think this is the case for hackers who will punch a clock, even if they work a different 8-5 than most of us. And said Henry Hill was himself a junkie and a never ending source of hassle for the Bureau.

OTOH, I know what they are talking about. The best computer hackers are to be honest a touch weird. They are either malnourished or obese. Many like the screen to be the only source of light in the room. They can crack the computer at the bank but cannot keep their checkbook in balance. If the pizza shop stopped deliveries they would starve.

I'm not putting them down, not every job is a people person job. Heck, as a courthouse landman you need a near personality disorder to live this life. I described my business to one guy as, "a roomfull of very intelligent misfits who can't or don't want to hold straight jobs." Some of what I have to figure out involves finding a pattern or thing that normal people just can't find.

Back to the subject, to me the answer is keep the hires pot-free as long as pot is illegal. If you need to hire some real sharps, bring them on as consultants, paid with an envelope of green if needed to keep things quiet.

Quote: AZDuffman

If you need to hire some real sharps, bring them on as consultants, paid with an envelope of green if needed to keep things quiet.

Not a bad idea!

Quote: reno

Not a bad idea!

Simple street-level cop work IMHO.

Probably all of us have to deal with giving up some personal information to some other entity. You can only really get around that if you give up shopping with debit or credit, don't fill forms, take out loans, deal with banks or practically anything.

So all your information is out there with these entities, and you no longer have any control over it if it is hacked. You can't do much to protect it yourself, no hiding it under your mattress or burying it.

So, all the security issues are serious in that regard. People already abuse what they can, no telling what other things they will find to do with it at some point.

And like I said, all of us are depending on some other entity to safeguard it unless you are a complete hermit. So, I hope the steps are taken to counteract infiltration. And that's not counting our own government. Not just this administration but future ones as well.

Actually, I think it is interesting that we generally take it for granted that 3 big credit organizations came into existence and just sort of decided to collect information about all of us that we now have to deal with too. Just generally taken for granted that somebody will monitor you and decide if you are a worthy for something or not.

In the sixties there were all these jokes about an undercover fbi man being one who wears white socks and sandals. Lawyers and cpa's don't always have much street smarts.

Hackers are needed and while a short term consultancy might be best some really do want job security, so its not as if they use heroin. Hire them. I've previously posted about Moxie Marlinspike.... sleeps on rooftops travels by freight train, and testifies before the Congress on computer security issues, particularly Man In The Middle Attacks.

Quote: Fleastiff

In the sixties there were all these jokes about an undercover fbi man being one who wears white socks and sandals. Lawyers and cpa's don't always have much street smarts.

Hackers are needed and while a short term consultancy might be best some really do want job security, so its not as if they use heroin. Hire them. I've previously posted about Moxie Marlinspike.... sleeps on rooftops travels by freight train, and testifies before the Congress on computer security issues, particularly Man In The Middle Attacks.

I've mentioned this before, but when I worked for Citibank in the Collections III department, their star performers were the biggest scammers they could find. People who'd filed multiple bankruptcies, people who'd been declared dead, people who'd skipped out on massive debt without reparations.

Programmers who can do the job they need done need some latitude on their past, assuming they're subjected to hiring and future drug rules, what they did in the past doesn't matter. And, FWIW, lots of people who smoked pot in their previous life (and admitted it on the application) were hired into the Federal government, especially in the 70's and 80's. It's not like there's no precedent on this.