>>>>http://it.slashdot.org/story/13/12/30/1646227/the-startling-array-of-hacking-tools-in-nsas-armory
>>>>
>>>>Yet more erosion of trust in the entire IT industry.
>>>
>>>Considering the stale joke "The best job application for the NSA is to hack it's database" - does it really surprise you that the NSA has all these 'tools'?
>>
>>Intellectually I knew they had certain capabilities. But some of them are surprising to me e.g. intercepting shipment of routers, servers etc. from mfr to customer and installing software and/or hardware backdoors. How can stuff like that be legal? Are they a rogue operation?
>>
>>This is getting serious.
>
>'Getting' ?
>You must be kidding. Are you genuinely surprised ?
>
>After so many other deadly serious things that happened past 10-15 years, NOTHING is really surprising. Are they rogue ? Or Illegal ?
>Hard to say. They managed to elevate themselves above the law while ago. And that is it for now.
>One thing is sure. It is HUGE operation. Whole industry if you will.
>
>http://rt.com/usa/quantum-computer-nsa-encryption-100/
>http://rt.com/usa/nsa-gchq-encryption-snowden-478/
>
>Uh Oh, Oh uh... I know, I know. It is all dirty/deceitful Soviet propaganda news operation.
>However, any mature/witty intellectual can certainly filter out grains of truth out of this despicable, almost Al-Jazeera style
>propaganda/indoctrination!
>Shoddy sources like this, (and various other stinky conspiracy theory websites) have been writing about these
>things for years! But that is below our intellectual level level huh ? 8-)
>Even Washington Post did huge article on it (one with nice interactive graphics), but you had to be naive pinko-leftist-liberal to buy (or worse disapprove! {g}) any of that stuff. So it is ok to be surprised, perhaps even slightly worried. Ain't that right ? :))

In Canada these types of things are officially frowned upon, if not outright illegal. So yes, I am a little surprised at the extent of what's apparently actually going on. In hindsight I suppose that is naive; if one comes from a background in or dealing with nation-states not subject to the rule of law I imagine one has little or no trust in those governments so it's easier to experience or at least imagine such things.

If you knew this all along, then I tip my hat to you, sir :)