We live in a time of populous, wealthy dictatorships that have computer-science expertise are openly hostile to the US and Canada.

North America is only about 5% of the world's population. [1] (We can assume that malicious actors are in North America, too, but this helps to adjust our perspective.)

The percentage of maliciousness on the Internet is much higher.

[1] _ See continental subregions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_continents_and_contine...

The US government itself is openly hostile to the US (as well as to the rest of the world).

> The percentage of maliciousness on the Internet is much higher.

A baseless assumption.

Huh? The empirical evidence we have - thanks to Snowden leaks - paints a different picture. NSA is the biggest malicious actor with nearly unlimited resources at hand. They even insert hardware backdoors and intercept shipment to do that.

> NSA is the biggest malicious actor

I'm curious, how do you rank CN, RU, and IR?

They are all active players, but no where close to the top dog.

That doesn't mean that the entire population of those countries is actively hostile to you.

Huh. I never really thought of it as a percentage.

I've been evil, been wonderful, and indifferent at different stages in life.

I have known those who have done similar for money, fame, and boredom.

I think, given a backstory, incentive, opportunity, and resources it would be possible to most people to flip from wouldn't to enlisted.

Leverage has shown to be the biggest lever when it comes to compliance.

It's doubtful you've been evil, or at least, you are really lacking in imagination of the true scope of what that word implies.

"Assume that 3% of the people you encounter will act maliciously."