Emitting signal that "crypto works" is a hoary practice, nothing more useful than a belief in an uncrackable means of comms, used often in war and commerce and love affairs. Crypto-AG, AES, PGP, Tor, OTR, offline exchange of keys, the list is growing with each disclosure that something stinks in crypto ex-cess. Getting the best and brightest (BAB) to affirm that crypto works, say by open and limited competitions as well as by confidential testing results leaked, would be a part of that campaign. Leaking other forms of attack, like metadata, would be another part, bit by bit, authenticity heightened by obligatory redactions and vetting by quiet government consultation. Presume Snowden dribbling juicy comsec architecture and data, witting or unwitting of their ulterior purpose as beautifully crafted to appear suspicious to BABs but so tasty to be irresistable as a floating British officer corpse stuffed with secret war plans retrieved by the Germans. Until all of Snowden's booty is released and carefully studied by virulently suspicious and paranoid BABs not snared by sweet contracts to muse and declare authenticity, it cannot be seen as more than an ingenious ruse, likely with the complicity of the BABs once believed to be poorly-paid angels dancing on a pinhead. The saluatory benefit of these ruses is to shock the shit out of the lazy and arrogant comfuckers whose stake is put at risk by being left out of the ruse, not easy to do if they are lulled into complacency by admiration, handsome pay, invites to classified dances, insured and pensioned by NDAs, well, hell, why else raise a ruckus with ruses like crypto lists and fora and history confabbing at NSA. None of this is intended to impugn the few BABs who remain outside secret circles, or at least appear to do so in best and brightest ways. And don't invoke a hoary NSL as basis for silence. It does intend to impugn denial of the inevtiable failure of crypto alone or in concert with infrastructure. Remember that 1997 NSA paper foretelling the fail. Was that a ruse too? If I was a BAB looking for a edge on the competition for ruses, I might blurt that crypto deception is the essence of crypto, that is why it works so well.