[PlasticTank]

You don't need to compromise a site they visit regularly, there are plenty of other ways to get someone to visit a malicious page, phishing email or even a link on HackerNews for example. People will visit new sites for all kinds of reasons, you'd just need to understand your target.

[bigiain]

Also, I at least, have very little confidence that a state level actor couldn't subvert the news.ycombinator.com hosting provider if it wanted to seriously enough.

If someone were to be "secure enough" to be running drugs/guns/children - they'd _have_ to be totally disconnected from the internet and cellular networks, and probably all their first and second level associates as well.

I don't have any sympathy for those people, but sadly a journalist critical of a government has all the same problems there, and that's bad for humanity.