Do not, however, assume that they do not know and perform their job to the best of their abilities, or you will be in the position of the mark talking to a cardsharp: 'I'm not any good at cards, but I sure do like to play for money.'

OTOH, one need not assume that everyone at NSA is a rocket scientist and that they are miles ahead of us in this game. The long undistinguished history of federal agencies shows them to be full of incompetence, waste and usually gross fraud as well. Considering the huge budget and lack of accountability, NSA seems an unusual place to look for an exception. A truly competent and efficient government agency that can hold its own against competition from the private sector is a rarity indeed. Granted, NSA had a head start of a few decades, yet it would be surprising if their lead at this point is more than negligible. Yes, I have read Bamford (though - sorry - not Kahn): remember that Bamford's book is already 12 years old and was probably out-of-date WRT the technology when it was published. <not the same anonymous author>