[bhauer]

> This is more an indication of the NSA focusing too strongly on offensive/monitoring operations and not on information security, which is their job as well.

This is precisely how I feel about this kind of thing.

To my mind, the NSA should be working to make the security technologies used by American individuals, American companies, and the American government as strong and as free of vulnerabilities as possible. The necessary degree of transparency would, of course, mean any such improvements would be available to anyone in other countries, but I think that situation is far superior to our current climate where we suspect (and not as wild conspiracy theory) that our vulnerabilities were as likely created by the NSA as not.

Many American individuals—and presumably companies—consider the NSA an adversary simply because these individuals value their privacy and the NSA has shown only hostility toward Americans concerning their privacy. In some alternate universe, my own opinion of the NSA could have been positive had they been an agency focused on decreasing the risk of individuals' privacy being compromised.

At the very least, that they are not (apparently) presently sufficiently charged with assisting other branches of the government maintain security is a misallocation of talent.

[irishcoffee]

> To my mind, the NSA should be working to make the security technologies used by American individuals, American companies, and the American government as strong and as free of vulnerabilities as possible.

Didn't NSA develop SELinux?

Edit: Heh, lets all avoid the fact that NSA created something insanely useful for the entire world. Nobody likes to think about these things. Hating is so much easier.

[bhauer]

Yes, and for a time that was great. That and more is what they should be doing!

Instead, they have thrown away any trust and respect they had earned. Now they are feared.