I believe that there are quite some parallels between world of "spycraft" and high technology.
I believe that personality traits and skill set for a successful spy are very similar to those of a top-notch hacker.
Both require an excellent all rounder with a creative spirit and strong sense for duty and loyalty. These are the kind of people, that can be relied upon to carry out their job without micromanagement.
People like that are few and far in between. And more significantly, when you start to displace them with mass produced "drones", they are the first who get the cue and they start leaving (Elves have left middle earth).
So for a final parallel - there have never been more people sought after in high-tech and the good ones have never been treated with more disrespect. Incidentally there has never been a bigger supply of crappy code/tech than today.
The difference is that business world can take such failures more easily - companies turn over and that's it.
In world of Intelligence - like the assassination attempt on Khaled Mashal - this is a failure of such magnitude that it will cost waaaay more than what was gained. Both in money and in credibility and prestige.
I believe that personality traits and skill set for a successful spy are very similar to those of a top-notch hacker.
Both require an excellent all rounder with a creative spirit and strong sense for duty and loyalty. These are the kind of people, that can be relied upon to carry out their job without micromanagement.
People like that are few and far in between. And more significantly, when you start to displace them with mass produced "drones", they are the first who get the cue and they start leaving (Elves have left middle earth).
So for a final parallel - there have never been more people sought after in high-tech and the good ones have never been treated with more disrespect. Incidentally there has never been a bigger supply of crappy code/tech than today.
The difference is that business world can take such failures more easily - companies turn over and that's it.
In world of Intelligence - like the assassination attempt on Khaled Mashal - this is a failure of such magnitude that it will cost waaaay more than what was gained. Both in money and in credibility and prestige.