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FBI Director James Comey. Susan Walsh/AP/Press Association Images
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The FBI is having problems hiring hackers who don't smoke weed
The agency is considering loosening the policy which prevents it from hiring anyone who has smoked marijuana in the previous three years.
THE FBI MAY have to loosen up its no-tolerance policy on smoking marijuana after its cheif admitted it causing problems when hiring cyber-security experts.
FBI Director James Comey said the agency is “grappling with the question right now” on how to amend the agency’s marijuana policy, which excludes anyone who has smoked the drug in the previous three years.
The current policy has caused problems in improving an area that’s becoming more important for the agency.
“I have to hire a great work force to compete with those cyber criminals and some of those kids want to smoke weed on the way to the interview,” Comey told the White Collar Crime Institute, an annual conference held at the New York City Bar Association.
US congress had authorised the FBI to add 2,000 new recruits this year, with many of them assigned to cyber security, a growing problem for the agency.
Recently, the US charged five Chinese military officials with hacking into its companies to gain trade secrets. According to the indictment, hackers targeted the US nuclear power, metals and solar products industries and are accused of stealing trade secrets and economic espionage.
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