1) You are probably overestimating the sophistication of IT controls at most companies. It's not uncommon for companies to give their employees local admin. Even if they don't, there's quite a few remote desktop tools which don't require admin privileges.
2) Windows, and its surrounding software ecosystem, don't make it easy to run on an "allowlisted software only" basis. Vendor drivers and autoupdating software make this particularly difficult. It's doable, but takes some effort.
3) Some North Korean operations use hardware remote desktop devices (along the lines of NanoKVM) to evade detection. I'm not sure if they were doing that here - the photos in the article are tiny - but it's known to be a thing.
How incompetent are these companies that they allowed employees to install unauthorized remote access software without anyone noticing?
1) You are probably overestimating the sophistication of IT controls at most companies. It's not uncommon for companies to give their employees local admin. Even if they don't, there's quite a few remote desktop tools which don't require admin privileges.
2) Windows, and its surrounding software ecosystem, don't make it easy to run on an "allowlisted software only" basis. Vendor drivers and autoupdating software make this particularly difficult. It's doable, but takes some effort.
3) Some North Korean operations use hardware remote desktop devices (along the lines of NanoKVM) to evade detection. I'm not sure if they were doing that here - the photos in the article are tiny - but it's known to be a thing.
Should have been tried and found guilty of 90+ counts of treason… 450+ years in prison?
8 years is a slap on the wrist. She will be out in 5 if not sooner.
prev: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44675691