> He was smart/determined enough to risk it all.

Desperate people are willing to risk it all, and usually smart people aren't desperate.

>Why didn't he just try find a job that pays $200k/year ?

Probably was not able to get into MIT or another prestigious school that many of those companies look for on a resume.

It is honestly much easier to spread malware or hack companies than it is to make 200k/year from a company.

Now with AI, you can accelerate this so much. The only thing holding back thousands of new threat actors from doing the same is Opsec, its hard.

Yeah, clearly risking it all wasn't the smart play here, as evidenced by the fact he got caught.

A lot of people are willing to tolerate risk, that hardly makes them useful. Frequently the opposite.

> didn't he just try find a job that pays $200k/year ?

you really think it's that easy?