EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

This past week, has been a big one for international cyber matters. NATO allies began drafting cyber warfare guidelines to determine when the deployment of cyberattack weapons are justified. Chinese nationals from a cybersecurity firm were indicted for hacking into Moody’s, Siemens, and Trimble. For government or ex-government hackers, it can be a troubling time.

“In light of this latest round of indictments against foreign hackers some ex-NSA hackers are starting to worry they might get the same treatment from China or Russia in the future,” reports Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai in Motherboard.

In 2014, the US government, for the first time ever, accused members of China’s military of hacking into American companies. Since then, other countries have also been accused. Quoting Robert Lee, who used to work for the US military Cyber Command, Franceschi-Bicchierai writes, “It’s a horrible and dangerous precedent for the US government to charge other government’s hackers.”

Some of these NSA hackers have been identified by other hacking groups, like The Shadow Brokers. With no formal policy in place, one former NSA hacker is calling for the US government to provide protection to former and current government hackers, in case foreign governments come after them.

Read the full story at Motherboard.