[lawnchair_larry]

people capable of secretly building exploits alone in their bedrooms at night (probably committing a crime)

No, that isn't how exploit research works. I don't understand why one would think that writing exploits is associated with being a criminal.

[mseebach]

Research, no, but turning it into malware is.

[lawnchair_larry]

Do you consider exploits to be malware? If so, then no, you couldn't be more wrong.