Why would a college student be an interesting target simply for being a college student in an interesting field? If they work at an interesting company or something like that I would understand, but the knowledge that is accessible in colleges is not some super secret stuff or am I missing something?
The conversation here is focussing on industrial espionage, but that's only one use case for this kind of active measure. An association with an opposition political party could easily get one on a surveillance list.
Yep, imagine an international postgrad student from an NSO client-state who criticizes their home country's leadership online, or is perceived to be a political activist is likely to be targeted by their own government for additional on-device monitoring via spyware. This could provide a springboard into monitoring other groups the victim may be a member of.
Colleges are basically outsourced green field R&D setup through professors as well as Patent departments to monetize their internal/grant research spend.. Sampling in a large company what you would happen upon is mundane additions to complex solutions you would be unlikely to want to copy if you weren't along for the earlier parts of the ride.
