[e12e]

I'd say the recent revelation/allegation that NSA accidentally took down Syria's Internet connection in the recent Wired interview with Snowden and the general "vibe" of mismanagement that I get from Snowden's and Binney's accounts -- doesn't have to imply that NSA doesn't also do interesting work other than their practical attacks on global infrastructure. But it does seem clear that if they actually do interesting stuff (say, working on using multiple satellites to photograph the same area in order to extrapolate to higher resolution images than what is possible from a single lens due to atmospheric effects -- or perhaps quantum or DNA/RNA computing etc). It is clear that whatever they might be doing, it does seem to be ridiculously highly classified, just like the sibling comment's example with RSA and GCHQ.

[gwern]

While the NSA has a huge budget, it's not infinite, and what gets one promoted and what analysts are boasting about in their slides gives you a definite idea for what the organization values. Do any of the leaks sound like there might be huge contingents of mathematicians off in side-corridor making breakthroughs? Not really.