The Czar continues to remain very close to the security industry. One of the biggest myths in security is the notion of “It Takes A Thief,” meaning that if you want the best security advice possible, hire the guys who know how to defeat the systems…that is, get yourself a criminal.

Turns out, this is almost invariably a really bad idea; at best, it usually provides no real advantage. People usually reverse their opinion as soon as it is phrased like “Rather than hire a guy who can exploit weak or mediocre systems, it’s better to hire a guy who has never been defeated by the bad guys.”

No one in the NSA evidently knows this, because no one has advised POTUS Obama that hiring a known criminal as a security advisor. Bad idea.

From all accounts, Jeff Moss is not a psychotic mastermind with a superlaser. In fact, one of his old peers dismissed him as a bit of a poser in the criminal hacker underworld.

And this ties into the Czar’s experiences: they are either total liabilities who compulsively exploit systems with no sense of moral compass, or they wind up as non-useful talkers with no real skills at the job.

So on the one hand, the President could do better. On the other hand, he ought to do better. When does this ride end?

The Czar of Muscovy

Божію Поспѣшествующею Милостію Мы, Дима Грозный Императоръ и Самодержецъ Всероссiйскiй, цѣсарь Московскiй. The Czar was born in the steppes of Russia in 1267, and was cheated out of total control of all Russia upon the death of Boris Mikhailovich, who replaced Alexander Yaroslav Nevsky in 1263. However, in 1283, our Czar was passed over due to a clerical error and the rule of all Russia went to his second cousin Daniil (Даниил Александрович), whom Czar still resents. As a half-hearted apology, the Czar was awarded control over Muscovy, inconveniently located 5,000 miles away just outside Chicago. He now spends his time seething about this and writing about other stuff that bothers him.