> perhaps the government quietly permits more profit motivated blackhat operations in exchange for some intelligence sharing

I've long wondered if we're going to see cyber warfare "letters of marque" at some point.

In retaliation to cyber attacks on US companies, the US government could designate Chinese firms with connections to the Chinese government (and particularly those which support the Chinese military) in letters of marque, allowing retaliatory IP theft, permission to cause damages, etc.

If the Chinese government is behind these attacks on US companies, than we are in a de facto state of warfare.