When governments turn to private hackers to carry out state-sponsored attacks, as the FBI alleges Russia did in the 2014 breach of Yahoo, they’re taking a big risk.
On the one hand, it gives them a bit of plausible deniability while reaping the potential spoils of each attack, but if the hackers aren’t kept on a tight leash things can turn bad.
Karim Baratov, the 22-year-old Canadian hacker who the FBI alleges Russia’s state security agency hired to carry out the Yahoo breach, didn’t care much for a low profile.
