alt Hacker News>and now the government has the shamelessness to grandstand about privacy and security? We need to elect better people.
Where's "the government [... grandstanding] about privacy and security"? It's getting blocked by the companies, not the government.
>She said Mandiant refused to provide the requested network security assessments, apparently at the direction of AT&T and Verizon.
"US Senator says AT&T, Verizon blocking release of Salt Typhoon security assessment reports"
A US senator is using it for political grandstanding. She is an ineffective twit with no power and no principles, no right under law to receive what she demanded, and she made sure to run to the press with it "see! look, I'm a principled, powerful senator holding those evil corporations feet to the fire!"
The problem is that the vulnerability exploited by salt typhoon is a systemic flaw implemented at the demand of Cantwell and other of our legislative morons.
You cannot have an "only the good guys" backdoor. That doesn't work. People are bad, and stupid, and fallible. You can't make policy or exceptions that depend on people being good, and smart, and infallible.
She's using the inevitable consequence of a system she helped create for her own political benefit. She voted for the backdoor back in 94 against the strenuous and principled objections by people who actually know what they're talking about.
Bobblehead talking points should not serve as the basis for technical policy and governance, but here we are.